The Dragon Boarder and the Slaver
by Dustnblood
Summary: <html><head></head>Matt quickly followed her, moving along the same path. Suddenly to his horror, he saw Astrid get swallowed up in a net that sprung from the ground. Hanging from the tree, she yelled out of reaction "What the?" Looking at Matt, she then said "Matt! Behind you!" The third Story of the Dragon Boarder Series. A lot of action and such!</html>
1. Chapter One

**Third story of the dragon boarder series. This one is nowhere NEAR the same story as the failed story Repercussions. BUT like the last story, this will not make sense if you had not read at least the second one. The first one is referred to quite often, but you can pass on it (though not advised). You just won't get the inside jokes as much.**

**Also, I changed the title of the story to The Dragon Boarder and the Slaver. I hope you enjoy this story, because I feel this one is a lot better than what Repercussions was supposed to be.**

Chapter One

The wind roared past Matt as he ushered Wasatch into a dive. Even with the cool wind, he kept on sweating in his helmet. This was it. The final lap in the dragon race. Any moment the black sheep would be launched into the air and the race would intensify. Focusing on his balance, he kept eyeing the catapult that would launch the sheep

Glancing over to his left, Matt saw Astrid doing the same thing; waiting to grab the 10 point sheep. Hiccup was below them, ready to pounce as well.

Suddenly the catapult activated, shooting the sheep straight up into the air. Wasatch instantly responded by doing a quick dive to gain speed. Covering his body with lightning, he quickly cut in front of Stormfly; causing her to alter her course.

"Matt!" Astrid roared angrily, as she held on to Stormfly.

"Talk to you at the finish line!" Matt yelled laughing, still staring at the sheep. Leaning backwards, Matt rolled Wasatch over. Reaching out, Matt grabbed the sheep out of the air and pulled it into him. Completing the roll, Matt regained his balance and guided Wasatch to do an air brake. As soon as he did so, Matt saw Toothless fly right past him, trying to turn sharp enough to grab the sheep from Matt. Hiccup stared at Matt with his red face paint on. "Aw come on!" he shouted in disgust.

Matt didn't stay around to retort back. Banking Wasatch around a building, Matt saw Astrid coming straight at him. "Now Wasatch!" Matt roared.

Wasatch immediately opened his mouth and flashed a bright light, blinding Astrid and Stormfly temporarily.

As soon as Astrid eye's recovered from the sudden flash, she turned to see Matt flying straight towards the goal. "No!" She yelled angrily. This was not her best race today.

Matt focused on the black and purple goal that was designated for him. Letting Wasatch get closer, Matt quickly threw the sheep at his goal. Staring at the sheep, he saw something that brought a sudden feeling of horror and anger. Hiccup and Toothless flew in between the goal and Wasatch, catching the sheep mid-air.

"Are you kidding me!?" Matt screamed in frustration.

Hiccup just turned to look at him with a crooked smile "Gotta be faster than that!"

Matt roared in anger and urged Wasatch to chase the black Night Fury. Seeing Snotlout coming on his right, he quickly guided Wasatch into a roll. Feeling his bindings keep his feet on Wasatch, Matt finished the roll and continued to pursue Hiccup.

Astrid was now next to him, urging Stormfly to go faster to catch Toothless.

By the time they were even able to get close to them, Toothless did a quick airbrake with his wings and let Matt and Astrid fly by them. Matt roared in anger as he turned to see Hiccup glide to the goal and throw the sheep in his net.

"We were so close!" Matt moaned, kneeling down and unbuckling his bindings. Sitting down on Wasatch's neck, he pulled off his helmet and let the wind cool his face. Even though he rode with the helmet on, he had black and purple face paint on, matching Wasatch's color. Each side of his face was each said color; with black on the left and purple on the right, split equally on both sides. Letting the wind cool him down a bit, he began to rub behind the Skrill's neck "Well…at least you did good! That was the best maneuvering we've done in a long time."

Wasatch roared in response to Matt's compliment, sending a small jolt of electricity into him.

Smiling, Matt let Wasatch land near the other racers. Lifting his leg over the dragons' neck, Matt landed smoothly on the ground.

"What was that!?" Astrid shouted, marching up to him "I've never seen Wasatch cause a flash like that before!"

Laughing at her frustration, Matt teased "To be fair, you didn't see anything when he did flash you." Answering her question, he continued "Just discovered it! Maybe a week ago? I knew that would come in handy with the races."

"So why did you lose then?" a voice called out behind him.

Turning to see who said that, Matt saw Heather walking towards him. On her shoulder was her dragon, Snatch. Snatch was a Smoldering Smokebreath that they saved. Heather took the time to nurse him back to health and since then hasn't left her side. She was currently training it to help gather alchemy ingredients.

"Well…I was going to win. But then…" Matt's voice trailed off. Snatch then flew to Matt and clung to his shoulder.

"I'm teasing!" Heather said laughing "You had it! I was watching and I didn't even see Hiccup until he grabbed that sheep."

"You're not helping me feel better about losing, if that's what you're trying to do." Matt muttered, taking a seat next to Astrid. Scratching Snatch's chin he added "I know I lost fair and square, Hiccup just pulled an amazing move which was the nail in the coffin for us."

At that point, Hiccup landed Toothless next to the group. Jumping off, Hiccup made way to Matt with his hand extended out to him. "That was way too close for comfort! You were just blowing us out of the air with the other sheep!"

Matt watched Snatch then fly off of his shoulder and landed on top of Wasatch, nestling on his back. Turning back towards Hiccup, he replied "Regardless you beat me! I was so sure that I had it!" Matt moaned, burying his face in his hands.

"Hey, you won the last two, it was time for your reign to end!" Hiccup teased, lightly pushing Matt and still extending his hand to Matt.

Looking up at Hiccup, Matt smiled and took the hand. Pulling Hiccup towards him, Matt quickly tackled Hiccup to the ground.

"Ooof!" Hiccup grunted, rolling with the inertia. Grabbing Matt's armor, he quickly rolled with Matt, trying to pin him. Matt then used his braced leg to push himself against Hiccup. Throwing Hiccup's balance off, Matt quickly pushed on Hiccup's shoulders, pinning him to the ground. Hiccup then lifted his leg and pushed Matt off. Rolling onto his feet, Hiccup was surprised when Matt grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. Forced to kneel down, Hiccup shouted "You got me! You got me alright!" Keeping Hiccup on the ground, Matt laughed saying "Astrid taught me that move."

"I noticed!" Hiccup groaned, trying to get out of the arm bar. Matt then let go of Hiccup and helped him up.

"Hey, you're getting better." Astrid said with a smile, walking up to Matt.

"Just applying what we practiced!" He laughed, watching Hiccup dust himself off "If I can't beat him in dragon racing, I can do it wrestling him."

"You sound a little bitter." Hiccup huffed, finishing dusting himself off.

Without warning, Astrid pushed Matt, throwing his balance off. Grabbing his arm, she kicked behind his knee, causing him to drop onto the ground. Trying to fight back, Matt felt himself pinned to the ground on his chest, unable to even try and get an advantage. Astrid dug her knee into his back, making sure that he couldn't move.

"Gah! Well that was quick!" Matt grunted, feeling the pressure release. Rolling over, he saw Astrid's hand extended. Taking it, he felt himself lifted onto his feet. "I guess I still have a lot to learn huh?" Standing up, he pushed the lever on his leg, deactivating the brace. Feeling a small pain settle in, Matt quickly masqueraded it by rubbing his back, as if that was what was causing the pain.

"Like I said, you are getting better." Astrid said with a smile "You're also getting better with a sword."

"Thanks…" Matt said, trying to rub his back out. Feeling the some of the straps come undone, he turned to see Heather take off his riding armor.

"I got a new ointment I wanna try on your back, you know, to see if we can help your back from scarring any worse." Heather said, setting the armor on the ground.

"Hold on…" Matt said with a smile, taking a step back with his shirt still on "I'd like to wash off my paint first."

"And then you'll sneak away to work on your personal project or go for another ride!" Heather said rolling her eyes.

"What are you working on anyways?" Hiccup asked, walking to a bucket of water with towels near it "You've made yourself pretty scarce the last few weeks."

"Just experimenting…" Matt said, brushing off the questions "I'll let you all know soon enough!" Walking next to Hiccup, he added "I'll be right with you Heather, just give me a minute to clean up a little."

"I'll see you in a bit then." Heather said, beginning to walk away with Snatch clinging to her back.

"I promise I'll be right with you in a second." Matt said with a smile. Turning to Hiccup who was splashing the water on his face to get the paint off, Matt then started to do the same thing. Feeling the cold water hit his face made him shiver. Looking up to say something to Hiccup, he was surprised to see that he was talking with Eret a few yards away.

Not thinking much of it, Matt was about to splash another handful of water on his face when he overheard Hiccup saying: "Another one? That's the third fishing ship this week!"

"I know, but none of them came back and they're way past due!" Eret whispered back.

"Alright…I'll check out the island that they were supposed to fish at, you get your crew ready and set sail. See if Skull Crusher can't track them." Hiccup replied, a serious tone setting in his voice.

Matt quickly acted like he was still washing the paint off when Hiccup came back to the bucket. Using one of the towels that were next to the bucket, Matt wiped his face off. Seeing Hiccup finish scrubbing his paint off, he asked "So…what was that about?"

"What was what about?" Hiccup replied casually, reaching for the towel in Matt's hands.

"Come on Hiccup. Who's missing from their fishing trip?" Matt said, opening up the conversation. Handing the towel to Hiccup he added "I couldn't help but over hear what Eret told you."

Sighing, Hiccup quickly rubbed the remaining face paint off with the towel. Setting it next to the bucket he finally said "Fine. We've had three fishing boats disappear. We have no idea what happened or what's going on. At first I thought it was a dragon attacking them, you know, being territorial and such. But the other two ships were supposed to be fishing nowhere near where the first attack was."

"Wait…you think someone is attacking them?" Matt interrupted, a look of concern over his face.

"I-I don't know…" Hiccup said, staring at the ground. Looking back at Matt, he said "I was going to check the last spot where the fishing ship was supposed to be. See if I can't find any clues you know."

"Well…let me get my gear back on." Matt said, walking to where Heather had laid out his armor.

"Wait, Matt!" Hiccup said, running next to him "Maybe it'd be best if I went alone. You know, to show that Berk's chief isn't concerned. And able to handle the problems."

"Hiccup." Matt said with a smile "Two brothers going for ride isn't alarming, it's natural." Laughing slightly, Matt added "Besides, I need to do something around here if I'm going to live here. I'm jobless really! I can't run the blacksmith shop, I can't really farm or raise crops, I definitely can't fish, and between Astrid and Fishlegs, I'm just a tutor at the academy! The only thing I'm good for is helping you with your duties as chief." Buckling the armor on, he continued in a more serious tone "Please Hiccup…let me help you. I'm useless here doing anything else."

Hiccup stared at Matt and then sighed. Grabbing Matt's helmet that was resting on a table, he shoved it into Matt's chest. "Suit up. We'll have to go tell the girls where we're going."

Matt smiled as he slid on the helmet. Facing Wasatch who was sleeping, he said loudly "Come on Wasatch! We finally got something to do!"

* * *

><p>"I knew you were going to leave after the race." Heather huffed, staring at Matt with her arms crossed. Watching him climb onto Wasatch she added "You never know when to slow down for a little bit, do you?"<p>

"I'm really sorry!" Matt said apologetically, strapping himself into his bindings. "We'll be back tonight and then I swear I'll be with you however long you want!"

"Sure…just like the last 5 times you said that." Heather said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Walking up to Matt, who was looking down on her, she smiled and pushed the lever on his leg to activate the brace.

Feeling the brace stiffen up, Matt smiled and took off his helmet. Leaning forward, Matt went down for a kiss, only to be splashed in the face with water. Recoiling back, he stared at Heather who was laughing.

"You know…I should have expected that." Matt said dryly, trying to wipe the water off and dry his face.

"You missed some paint." Heather said, justifying her action "Just trying to help you."

Before Matt could say anything, Hiccup and Astrid rounded the corner. Astrid was obviously in a bad mood when she saw Matt standing on Wasatch. "So why does Matt get to go?" Astrid said, glaring at Hiccup.

"Uh…well…" Hiccup stammered "I just want it to be two people. Besides, I need you to watch over the academy today."

"Fishlegs can do that!" Astrid breathed loudly "Knowing your luck, you're going to find the Screaming Death again! Or something like that!"

"Astrid!" Hiccup replied with a frustrated tone "We're just checking the location of the last fishing ship. Even if we find something, we're going to come right back! I honestly don't need Matt either!"

Astrid stared at Hiccup, still angry that she couldn't come. Looking at Matt, she said "This better not be a regular thing. So help me if it is!"

Matt only smiled, knowing how mad the two girls were. At that point, Snatch flew by and landed on Heather's shoulder, hissing at Matt. Staring at the Smokebreath in disbelief, he then said "You're mad at me too!? What did I do to you?"

"He's always on my side. You know that!" Heather teased. Taking a step back, she then added "Get going. The sooner you leave, the sooner you get back."

Smiling, Matt put on his helmet. Looking at Hiccup, he said "After you!"

Hiccup quickly kissed Astrid and jumped on Toothless. Sliding his helmet on, he let the dragon launch into the air.

Wasatch quickly followed, flying right next to Toothless. Facing Hiccup, Matt gave him a thumbs up, as if to assure him that everything will be fine. Hiccup nodded and then returned his attention ahead of him.

Also relaxing, Matt leaned on his brace; allowing his body to rest from standing all the time. Seeing that they had a long flight ahead of them, Matt began to sing quietly to himself a Linkin Park song. One that he thought helped him out the most; Breaking the Habit. Almost instantly he laughed to himself when he started to think about the song. Even though he was more than happy to stay at Berk, there were parts of his old life that he missed. Including the music. As well as a hot shower. Shaking his head, he couldn't believe that he that it was 6 months since his decision to stay.

A lot has happened since then. For one, his back was almost completely healed. The only thing that even showed that his back was burned were the scars that were left behind. Looking like someone took a knife and carved pieces out of his back, the injury looked a lot worse than what it felt like. Also, since Hiccup was busy with chief duties, he helped Astrid out at the academy; whether that be teaching new recruits about dragons, to making sure that the dragons around the island behaved. Matt loved having something to do, especially since it was something he loved with a passion. Now that he was helping Hiccup, he knew that he was finally settled in Berk as a resident.

And then there was Heather. Since he stayed, not only did he care about her, but he knew that he loved her. Smiling to himself, he quietly whispered so that even Wasatch couldn't hear him "Man…I really need to step up my game and help her out a little more. Shoot! Just be with her more." Since she officially moved to Berk, Heather essentially became an apprentice to Gothi; trying to learn more about the art of healing. Even since the time she helped Matt's back, she was improving a lot with her knowledge. She even began to learn how to help dragons and any injuries they might have, which was helpful when Snatch was found.

Smiling, Matt retuned to the present and the matter at hand. Even though this was a serious issue, Matt was glad to be able to help Hiccup. Looking at his friend, and now who he calls a brother, Matt just kept on smiling. He was so grateful that he was able to be with his ancestor; the one that should've been in the history books. Finishing his reminiscing, Matt stopped leaning on his brace and kept on following Hiccup to their destination.

* * *

><p>"Well…I guess we can rule out the option that it sunk." Matt said sarcastically, jumping off of Wasatch and landing on a sandy beach. Pulling off his helmet, he clipped it to his saddle and then turned to look at the wrecked ship.<p>

Arriving to the area where the ship was supposed to be, it didn't take Hiccup and Matt long to find it crashed on the beach of a small forested island.

"I guess that's a good thing." Hiccup replied, equally thick with sarcasm. Gazing at the boat, Hiccup just shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that a dragon wasn't the cause of this, but keep an eye out for burn marks or something dragon related."

Matt walked over to the wreck and climbed onto the deck of the vessel and began to move debris out of the way, trying to get to the cabin of the ship. Hiccup observed the massive hole that was in the side of the ship, trying to figure out what could have done it. Looking away from the hole for a second, Hiccup shouted "Any luck getting inside yet?"

"Give me a second!" Matt shouted back "A beam fell across the door." Trying to move the massive, wet lumber, Matt quickly pushed a lever on his armor and felt his back stiffen up. Even though his back brace was meant to help him recover from being electrocuted, Matt found other uses for it; such as lifting heavy objects. With his back supported, and a few grunts, Matt quickly moved the beam away from the door. Dropping it on the deck of the ship, Matt pulled the lever to loosen his back. Opening the broken door, Matt quickly saw a mess inside the ship. It honestly looked like a battle took place in it.

"Anything?" Hiccup's voice sounded "I'm going to come in through this hole and try to meet up with you inside."

"Be careful!" Matt shouted back, stepping over a barrel of spoiled fish "It's like a war zone in here." Stepping over a broken chest, Matt saw something that caught his eye. Kneeling down, Matt moved some debris in the chest and found that it was still full of gold and other valuable materials, such as carved wooden figurines, small gems, and a seashell necklace with a dragon tooth in the center of it. Picking up a few pieces of the gems, Matt saw another item that caught his eye. Standing up, Matt stared at a sword sticking out of the wall. Pulling it out, Matt stared at it in confusion. It wasn't anything like the swords in Berk. Instead of a long, straight edge, it was curvy; almost like a wave was running down it on both sides. For some reason…it looked familiar to him.

"Find anything?" Hiccup asked, climbing over some crashed barrels.

Nodding, Matt replied "A few things actually." Looking up at Hiccup, he tossed the sword to him and said "It looks like it was deliberate. I don't remember when our fishing vessels carried long swords like that, let alone any of our men having swords like that." Letting Hiccup observe the sword, he then added "But whoever did this, wasn't after loot or supplies." Gesturing to the fish all over the ship, he continued "They'd have taken most of the fish! As well as some gold and these little gems." With that, Matt showed the gems that were in his other hand. "What do you make of it? I want to say another tribe is behind it, but it doesn't make sense with why they'd leave all these goods they could have used."

"Well…it is deliberate. That's for sure." Hiccup replied, lowering the sword "And I think I know who's behind it. Or at least know someone who might know who's behind it."

Matt's head snapped up, staring at Hiccup. "What did you find? How do you know? Do you think it's Dagur?"

Holding the sword back up, Hiccup explained "No it's not Dagur and here's how I know; this sword. This style is made by only one island." Rubbing his hand on the flat side of the blade, he continued "It's an Outcast sword."

Matt looked at Hiccup with shock on his face. "But I thought we had an alliance with them! Why would they attack us?" Hundreds of thoughts were running through his head, but the most fervent one was when Alvin cut his leg 6 years ago. That's why the sword looked familiar.

Shaking his head, Hiccup replied "I don't know. I do hope to find some answers though."

Looking down, Matt thought of something. "So…why did they leave the sword?" Pointing to the wall that it was left in, he added "I found it in the wall, as if it was left there on purpose. Do you think that's like a message or something?"

"No." Hiccup replied simply, starting to walk out of the ship. "This sword has a crack down the center of it. If it's used in a fight one more time, it would shatter. They probably left it thinking it would go down with the ship."

Following Hiccup, Matt then asked "So…are you headed to Outcast Island?"

"Well…yes and no." Turning to Matt, he then explained "I'm going to have you and Astrid go."

"Why me!?" Matt cried, shock riveting through his body. "You know exactly how I feel about Alvin! About Outcasts in general!"

"The exact same way I felt. But I'm over it, and you can too." Hiccup replied simply, walking out of the cabin "Hopefully Alvin isn't behind these attacks. I don't want to be fighting the Outcasts again."

"Ok, ok, ok, ok…" Matt began to argue "Let's say that Astrid and I go to Outcast Island. What are you going to be doing?"

"Searching for our missing villagers." Hiccup replied, stepping onto the beach "If it is Alvin, I want to try and get a jump on him and get them before he can do anything with them."

"Why don't you want me to come with you!?" Matt asked with desperation in his voice.

"You wanted to help me right?" Hiccup asked, turning to face Matt.

Taken back by the question, Matt answered "Of course!"

"I need you to go with Astrid in case they try to do anything to get her. You and Wasatch are weapons!" Hiccup said, grabbing Matt's shoulder "I don't think they'll do anything, but just in case, I want Astrid protected by my best rider and his Skrill."

Hearing why Hiccup wanted Matt to be with Astrid, he just looked down at the beach. After a few seconds of silence, Matt looked up at Hiccup and said "Fine. I'll go. But Astrid's going to have to be the one talking. I'll probably lose my mind if I try too."

"I'll agree to that." Hiccup said with a smile "Thank you Matt. I feel better about sending Astrid there with you than anyone else. Even my mom."

"Well…let's get going then." Matt said with a sigh. Helping Hiccup was turning out to be not as great as he expected it to be.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter 2! The plot thickens! As it should when you read further in a book. Well, enjoy!**

**Chapter Two**

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Matt asked Hiccup again. It was the next morning and Matt was still a little upset that he was being sent to Outcast Island.

"Matt, please!" Hiccup replied "I told you exactly why I want you to go."

"I know…I just…gah!" Matt said in a frustrated tone "It's going to be the first time that I've even thought of going back to Outcast Island, let alone actually talking with the man who almost cut my leg off."

Hiccup again rested his hand on Matt's shoulder and said "I hope you'll be able to come to peace with him. He has changed." Catching himself, he quickly threw in "Er, well I hope he's changed. It just doesn't make sense with why he'd attack us."

"Well…makes sense from my point of view." Matt replied, walking towards Wasatch "He was probably playing you, making you think that you were allies."

"He saved both my dad and I!" Hiccup countered quickly "I still owe my life to him."

Matt didn't say anything. This was one issue that he was going to disagree with Hiccup. Double checking the straps on his bindings, he heard a few dragons land behind him. Quickly turning around, he saw Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins.

"Ready to go Matt?" Astrid asked, stepping off of Stormfly.

"What do you think?" Matt huffed, walking up to her "I'm never going to be ready for this."

Astrid didn't say anything. When Hiccup told her what was going on and what he needed her to do, she knew Matt was going to struggle with even flying towards the island.

Hiccup quickly changed the subject by saying "Alright here's the plan." Opening up a map of all the islands that were explored, Hiccup laid it on the ground and motioned everyone to gather around. "The first ship disappeared here." Hiccup said, pointing to Dragon Island on the map "Then the second one was here." He pointed at a south of Dragon Island. A good three hour flight away. "Then the third one was here." Again, he pointed to an island south of the second one.

"All away from Outcast Island." Astrid pointed out "Instead of heading east, they're going south."

"That's why I'm doubting it is Alvin" Hiccup said, looking up at Astrid "I want to know if he's had anyone leave his island or something. If there's anyone that's having an issue with him or us."

Astrid nodded and said "I'll ask to check the ships and arena. Just in case."

Nodding, Hiccup then said "Snotlout and the twins are going to come with me. We're going to fly past the island where Matt and I found the ship. Fishlegs, I want you to keep running the Academy. If any of the students ask where we all went, just say we're gone trying to map out a new race course."

Fishlegs nodded, acknowledging that Hiccup wanted to keep this a secret.

"I'm guessing your mom is going to run the village?" Matt asked, seeing that Hiccup was trying to mask the fact that they were leaving.

"And Gobber." Hiccup added "You'll be back later tonight and we'll be back tomorrow. Long enough to not be noticed."

Matt nodded and looked up at Astrid "Well…let's get this over with." Almost immediately, he was spun around. Caught off guard by the sudden twirl, Matt was happy to Heather's face right in front of his.

"Thought I'd say good-bye and tell you to be safe before you left!" Heather said with a smile "You know, since I'm sure you'll come back with a broken arm or something."

"I just might." Matt said grimly "Not too excited to go there. You know how I feel…"

"You'll be fine..." Heather assured "Hiccup wouldn't send you there if he thought there was a real threat."

Matt just looked away, still not comforted with the fact he was going.

Astrid then walked up to Hiccup who was busy folding up the map. "Well…be safe!" She said with a smile "When are we going to go explore together again?"

"I really wish it was just the two of us." Hiccup said quietly with a frown. He didn't want Matt to hear. "But I don't dare send anyone else with Matt to Outcast Island. Also, I know you'll do a better job searching the island than the twins or Snotlout."

"Why don't you send Fishlegs with me instead?" Astrid asked "Let Matt run the academy. You know he can do it!"

"If he wants to be my right hand man, then I need him to be able to go to places that he feels like he can't go to." Hiccup answered, grabbing Astrid and pulling her to him "Think about it, if he can be that person for me, then I can spend more time with you!"

"Or to ride Toothless." Astrid said with a smirk.

Smiling, Hiccup leaned forward and kissed her. "Maybe a little bit of that as well…"

Astrid smiled as Hiccup pulled away, whispering "Be careful Hiccup. If Alvin or whoever is out there, don't let them get the jump on you."

"I should be the one worried." Hiccup quickly replied "If they are behind the attacks, I'm sending you straight to their island!"

"How many times have we been there when we were at war with them?" Astrid answered "This will be no different than then."

Nodding, Hiccup whispered "Well, I guess we better get going then." Turning to the twins and Snotlout, he shouted "Saddle up! Let's get out of here!"

Astrid then walked over to Matt who was still frowning. "Well, ready or not, we better get going."

Matt only nodded. Turning towards Heather, he quickly kissed her on the forehead and then slid his helmet on. "I'll be back. At least I'm hoping I will."

Heather just gave a small smile and then turned to Astrid "Be careful! I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Thanks Heather." Astrid replied "We'll be back before you know it!" With that she climbed onto Stormfly. Settling in her saddle, she quickly shouted "Stormfly up!"

"Let's get it over with Wasatch." Matt shouted flatly. Almost instantly, the two dragons launched into the air and began to head towards Outcast Island.

Hiccup and the others just watched them disappear into the horizon. Finally taking his view away from the direction they flew to, he said "Ok guys, time for us to go." Looking at Heather he smiled and added "We'll be back tomorrow. Try to stay out of trouble 'till then ok?"

Laughing, Heather quickly threw in "No promises!" Then in a serious tone, added "You better do the same then."

Smiling, Hiccup shouted as Toothless took off into the air "No promises!"

Heather stared at the rest of the gang as they flew south. Sighing, she began to walk towards the Great Hall to meet with Gothi. Just as she did so, Snatch landed on her shoulder, cooing at her. Laughing, Heather began to stroke her dragon's head "Well…I guess it's just us two for the day." Snatch just growled quietly as he let her stroke his head.

* * *

><p>"There it is!" Astrid called out, pointing to the island that was getting larger as they flew closer to it.<p>

Matt reluctantly acknowledged the sight of the island by only saying "That was a fast flight…"

It was still morning, with the sun just about at noon. Though Matt wanted the ordeal to end as quickly as possible, he still wanted to flight to be long enough for him to try and find some peace about going.

"Don't worry Matt!" Astrid said with a jest in her voice. Coaxing Stormfly to glide next to Wasatch, she continued to say "If they were going to hurt us they'd be shooting by now!"

"I'm not worried about getting shot at." Matt said, facing Astrid "I'm worried about get captured when we land."

"Matt!" Astrid with exhaustion in her voice "We've been at peace with them for almost 7 years! They know how to train dragons and they've had a larger fleet than us for a long time. If they wanted to mean harm to us then they would have done it a while back."

"So why did I find this in our fishing ship?" Matt said, grabbing the Outcast sword that he found "Why was this on our ship?"

"That's why we're here Matt." Astrid argued "We're going to try and find out exactly why you found that on our ship."

Matt just shook his head, unable to vent the frustration that was building up inside of him. Sliding the sword back into a temporary sheath outfitted to his straps, he took a deep breath and continued onward. The anxiousness that was in him was building, making him a little light headed. Though nothing really looked familiar, other than the desolate landscape, he couldn't help but go into a flashback of when he was almost killed here. Well, the first time he was almost killed. When he was forced to train Wasatch.

Astrid guided Stormfly to land behind a hill next to the village. Stepping off her saddle, she quickly grabbed her axe and walked behind a boulder in a crouched manner.

Matt quickly jumped off of Wasatch and followed. Leaning against the rock, Matt asked "So if you're confident they don't mean to hurt us, why are we hiding?"

"Doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful!" Astrid whispered peering over the rock. Seeing that it was all clear, she whispered "Stay girl!"

"You too Wasatch!" Matt said, drawing the handle of his sword. Turning to Astrid, he nodded and whispered "I've got your back."

Nodding, Astrid then bolted across to a burned and downed tree. Kneeling down she beckoned Matt over. Hunched over, Matt sprinted to Astrid and kneeled next to her. Looking over the tree, Matt saw the arena. Closing his eyes, Matt tried to shut out the memory of when he spent a night here.

"All clear…I don't see anything that shows them organizing for a war…" Astrid whispered, peering over the log "I'm going to move up a little bit."

Opening his eyes, Matt then said "Ok, but stay low…I'll be right behind you."

Nodding, Astrid leapt over the log and began sneak across to another boulder that was under a massive burned tree. Matt quickly followed her, moving along the same path. Suddenly to his horror, he saw Astrid get swallowed up in a net that sprung from the ground. Hanging from the tree, she yelled out of reaction "What the!?" Looking at Matt, she then yelled "Matt! Behind you!"

Extending his blade out, Matt spun around to see three Outcasts pointing crossbows at him.

"Who do we have here?" One of them shouted.

"No one that concerns you!" Matt yelled back, backing off slowly towards where Astrid hung. If he could get near her, he could try to cut her down.

"Wait a sec…" another said, peering at Astrid laying in the net "Oi! You idiots! That's Astrid!" Almost immediately, all three Outcasts lowered their crossbows.

Matt stayed on the defense, unsure of what to do now.

One of the Outcasts quickly jogged to the tree and began to untie a rope. Slowly letting Astrid drop, he then apologized "Sorry about that! We've been having trouble with a Gronckle that's been sneaking some food!"

Stumbling out of the net and dusting herself off, Astrid quickly returned "I'm glad it was meant for a dragon and not us!"

"What are you doing clear over here?" the lead Outcast asked, stepping towards both Matt and Astrid.

"We're here to see Alvin." Astrid said, pushing on Matt's hand to lower the sword "We have a few questions for him."

Reluctantly, Matt retracted the blade of his sword. Sheathing the handle, he took a step back and let Astrid do the talking.

"Well why didn't you just fly to the Great Hall?" the Outcast continued.

"I'd rather explain that while Alvin's here." Astrid replied with a small smile "I'm really here on behalf of Hiccup."

"Very well, come with me. Your friend too." The Outcast said, ushering them to follow him. Turning to the other two Outcasts, he ordered "Tork, Hagid, set the trap up again. We don't want that Gronckle stealing more food!"

As Matt and Astrid followed the Outcast, Astrid whistled out loud. Almost immediately Stormfly flew over the hill, with Wasatch following closely behind.

"Ah….that's where they went!" The Outcast said with a smile. Walking down a well beaten path, the Outcast then introduced himself "It's an honor to meet you Astrid. My names Guntor. I've been in charge of making sure wild dragons don't bug our farmers and livestock."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Guntor." Astrid said with a smile "That must be quite a responsibility."

Nodding, Guntor said "Aye it is…but one I enjoy. I've been releasing them on other islands so that they don't have to bug us anymore."

Matt couldn't help but feel shocked when he heard this. These couldn't be the same Outcasts 6 years ago that captured him and threatened to kill him; and almost doing it. Sighing, Matt shook his head slightly at the thought that he might have to forgive Alvin. The very thought seemed to tweak his leg. Stumbling slightly, Matt quickly double checked his brace to make sure it was on.

"Wait here." Guntor said, motioning to stop "I'll get Alvin."

Stopped at the entrance of the Great Hall, Astrid asked "How are you doing?"

"I don't know…" Matt replied, looking around the village "Everything's the same but different. I'm seeing that they did change, but I'm still getting some flashbacks…and my leg seems to hurt; even with the brace."

Astrid frowned and said "Maybe the problem isn't Alvin…maybe it's you."

Matt didn't say anything. Even if it was Matt's fault, he still didn't want to forgive Alvin. "Maybe…" Matt muttered, not really acknowledging what Astrid said. At this point their dragons were right behind them. It seemed Wasatch was on edge as Matt was.

Just as quickly as Guntor went inside the door, he came back out with Alvin right behind him. Matt's body suddenly froze. There he was. The same scarred face he saw when his leg was slashed and then crashed into the ocean. There was the man who stopped Matt from being able to snowboard professionally, or to even run and walk normally. If Matt hadn't had his helmet on, everyone would have seen him turn bright red out of anger.

"Astrid!" Alvin said with wide open arms "I'm surprised that you dropped by! Welcome back to Outcast Island!" Then turning to Guntor, he added "I heard you had quite the welcoming."

"Thank you Alvin. And yes we did!" Astrid said with a smile.

"So…why did you land all the way out there?" Alvin asked with confusion on his face.

"Well, for the reason why we came here." Astrid said. Turning to Matt, she then asked "Can you get the sword?"

Not saying anything, Matt walked up to Wasatch and pulled out the Outcast sword. Handing it to Astrid, Matt again took a step back from Alvin. For some reason his blood was inexplicably boiling with anger towards Alvin.

"Thanks." Astrid said. Facing Alvin, she then explained "We found this on one of our wrecked fishing ships. We were wondering if you could help us know what's going on."

Alvin took the sword and inspected it. Angling it so that he was staring down the flat side of the blade, he then said "Who's ever this is, it's beyond repair now." Testing the sharpness of the blade by rubbing his thumb along the edge, he continued "It's definitely one of our swords. The problem is most of my ships are out sailing. On fishing trips of course, but they're not here. If it is one of my men, I have no idea who might have attacked your ship."

"Ships." Matt threw in, to which he immediately regretted bringing attention to himself.

"I see…" Alvin said, eyeing Matt "I'm afraid I don't know you…"

Matt quickly glanced at Astrid who simply shrugged, as if motioning to introduce himself. Sighing heavily, Matt slid his helmet off and stared at Alvin.

"Why do you look familiar?" Alvin whispered, eyeing Matt up and down.

"This is Matt…you've met him before." Astrid said quietly, introducing Alvin to Matt

"Where did I meet you? I can't really remember…" Alvin continued, staring at Matt

"Maybe this will help." Matt said gruffly. Climbing onto Wasatch and strapping himself in his bindings; he then stood up on Wasatch and asked with venom in his voice "Remember me now?"

"Well blow me down and call me Thor" Alvin said, staring at Matt in awe "It's the Skrill tamer! I was wondering where you went." Looking at Wasatch, he added "I guess you really did train that wild dragon."

Matt just unstrapped himself and climbed down. Standing on firm ground, he quietly explained "I had to go home after you sliced my leg." Matt could hear his heart beating wildly, as if building the pressure that he was feeling inside of him.

Alvin was about to follow up with another question, but was interrupted when Astrid asked "So do you know anyone that would have attacked us? Anyone that might have a grudge against us or you?" She was trying to pull the attention away from Matt, after seeing a vein bulge in his neck.

Shaking his head, Alvin replied "Not really. All the ships I've sent out have been fishing ships."

Looking down, Astrid then said "Well…I guess that answers our question."

"If I find out one of our ships is attacking yours, I'll make sure I'll handle it myself personally."

"Thanks Alvin…" Astrid said, still a little depressed that they didn't get any answers.

Looking over to Matt, Alvin then said "He's a little quiet isn't he?"

Astrid looked at Matt and then said "Well…he's not too happy about being here."

"Why?" Alvin asked "Because of me?"

"Yes!" Matt said angrily. That was the last straw for Matt's patience. "When you slashed my leg, my life was changed forever! I couldn't do my living and couldn't even stand up normally for a while! I still can't use it as much as I'd like to!" Breathing heavily Matt quickly turned away from him as if to continue to hide from Alvin. Though he knew that he might have blew any cooperation from Alvin and the Outcasts, Matt couldn't help it. The anger in him was more than he had ever experienced; even when he was facing Dagur after he shot Toothless down.

Alvin stared at Matt who was still fuming. Nodding, Alvin slowly said "You know…You're not the only one I've hurt in my past."

"Really." Matt replied sarcastically, not looking at Alvin "Hard to imagine…"

"Let me finish." Alvin said, raising his hand "Every single person who I affected in a great way, such as yourself, I've tried to make restitution. That included Hiccup, Stoick, and even Astrid." With that he looked at Astrid. Facing Matt again, he continued "I don't expect you to forgive me, but I do want you to know that I'm sorry and if there is any way I can make it up to you, I'll be more than happy to do it."

Matt stared at Alvin for a second. His eyes still burning, he then said "It's a little late to apologize. The damage is done; I can't ever be the same again." Turning away from Alvin, Matt climbed back on Wasatch and strapped himself in. Sliding his helmet back on, he looked at Astrid and said "I'm ready when you are."

Astrid quickly turned to Alvin and said "Thanks for your help. I'm sorry about Matt…"

"Don't worry, I totally understand why he feels that way…How bad did I hurt him?" Alvin asked, looking at Matt who was busy keeping Wasatch relaxed.

"Well…he walks with a limp. He's using a brace to help stabilize his leg." Astrid answered "It's only been tough on him since he had to come here."

Nodding, Alvin then said "I hope I can make it up to him somehow."

"Give him time." Astrid said with a small smile "He'll come around."

Alvin then extended his massive hand to Astrid and said "Tell Hiccup to come by and visit. My island really enjoyed it when we celebrated Snoggletog with your island."

"I'll be sure to pass the message!" Astrid said with a smile, letting her hand get enveloped by Alvin's "Take care Alvin, thanks for the help."

"Good luck on finding who's doing this to you. Like I said, if I find out that one of us are raiding your ships, I'll deal with them personally."

Smiling, Astrid climbed onto Stormfly and then launched into the air. Matt quickly followed, letting Wasatch leave with electricity covering his body. Heading towards Berk, Astrid turned to Matt and began to say "Well…I'm glad you didn't explode earlier."

"I don't want to talk about it." Matt said with a serious tone, looking at what was ahead of him.

"But-" Astrid began to argue.

"Astrid. I don't want to talk about it." Matt said, looking at her "I'll let you know when I want to. When I'm able to." With that, he urged Wasatch to fly past her, taking the lead.

Astrid stared at Matt and then sighed. Even though he did go to Outcast Island, it hurt him more than helped. "Oh Hiccup…I wish you sent Fishlegs with me instead." She whispered to herself as she kept on watching Matt slowly get little farther away from her.

* * *

><p>Arriving at Berk, Matt quickly unstrapped himself from Wasatch and jumped down. Landing a little harder than usual, he stumbled slightly when his leg gave him a slight jolt of pain. Grumbling to himself, Matt began to limp towards Hiccup's house; deactivating his brace as he did so.<p>

"Matt wait!" Astrid said, sliding off Stormfly. Running up to him, she said "I know that it wasn't the greatest experience for you, but you've got to face that eventually!"

"I'm not going to just forgive Alvin!" Matt said loudly, turning to face Astrid. Mainly due to the circumstance, his leg quickly gave him grief. Grimacing, Matt quickly shot back "He may have done things for you and Hiccup. Hell, even the entire island of Berk. I don't care." Letting the steam vent a little, he added "He hasn't done anything for me or-"

"Matt! He saved Hiccup!" Astrid cut in "I was with Hiccup when it happened! We released the Screaming Death's mother and Dagur charged us! Alvin stopped him and then the rest is history!" Breathing heavily, Astrid continued "He helped Hiccup save Stoick, he saved Snotlout as well, and he helped fight the Berserkers off the island! I don't know what more you need for him to prove to you!"

"I understand what he's done for you, but you have to remember what he did to me." Matt retorted, eyes glaring "He stopped me from being an amazing snowboarder! He kept me from being able to try new things like sports or running!"

"He captured me! He held me hostage more than a few times!" Astrid threw in angrily "Hiccup was captured as was Toothless. He almost destroyed Berk by planting a nest of Whispering Deaths under the island!" Gesturing to the island, she continued "Look Matt! We still got over it!"

"Yes you did!" Matt said angrily "But mine's different!"

"How?" Astrid asked, crossing her arms "Convince me that your case is unique."

"I live with what he did to me." Matt said simply "He damaged Berk, you repaired it. He took you hostage, you replaced that experience with a good ending and have many, many other experiences to replace that memory." Breathing heavily, he continued with a louder voice "He sliced my leg and I have to wake up EVERY morning with the knowledge that what he did to me makes my day and life harder than it needs to be. I didn't care before because I didn't have see him again; but now that I'm visiting the very island where I was maimed and conversing with the man that did it, my mind can't take it anymore."

Astrid didn't say anything. She just stared at Matt with her arms still crossed. Though Matt was right about having to live with what Alvin did to him, she knew that he was still wrong about not forgiving and moving on. Sighing, she just shook her head and said just that "Your right. You do live with it every day for every minute. But don't think you can't beat it. Hiccup goes every day with problems like yours. He wakes up knowing that Stoick died saving him. That's got to be close to what you feel."

Matt just closed his eyes at that comment. No, it wasn't close to what he felt. What Hiccup went through would probably cripple Matt more than taking another sword to the leg or a lightning bolt to the back. A lot quieter, he corrected her, saying "No…that's not a fair comparison. I guess I was just psyching myself out." Looking at Heather in the eyes, he finished with "I still can't get over what Alvin did to me, but my problem is small compared to others. Especially Hiccup."

Astrid finally smiled and said "Matt…you're dealing with a real issue; but for this case, it might be better to let go of what happened and try to start over with Alvin."

Matt just stood there and thought about it. Shaking his head, he said "No. Not yet at least. I don't think I'm ready for that…"

Nodding sadly, Astrid began to lead Stormfly towards her house. Matt also resumed walking to Hiccup's house.

"Matt! Astrid!" A panicked voice called out behind them. Turning to see who was calling them, they both saw Fishlegs running towards them.

"Hey Fishlegs! What's going on?" Astrid said, concerned with the anxious look on Fishleg's face.

Catching his breath, he began to sputter "We…we found Toothless! He flew here without Hiccup or anyone! He has a nasty cut on his side and he's over at the arena now!"

"What!?" Astrid said in shock. Matt didn't even ask; instead he pushed on his lever to re-activate the brace and began to sprint to the arena. With a renewed energy, Matt ran harder and harder. Suddenly he felt himself picked up from the air. Looking up, he saw that Wasatch had picked him up and began to fly towards the arena.

"Thanks boy…" he whispered. Returning his attention to the arena that was getting closer, he had a hundred thoughts run through his head.

Wasatch hovered by the entrance to the arena, lightly dropping Matt. Landing hard on the stone ground, Matt ignored the pain that shot up his leg. Sprinting in, he saw Toothless laying in the center of the arena surrounded by multiple students; Heather was also in the group, already kneeling down and tending to a slash that was in his side.

"How long has he been here!?" Matt asked out loud, running to the downed dragon.

"Not very long!" Gustav replied, looking at Matt with worry "We were about to leave class when he showed up."

"How bad is it?" Matt asked again, looking down at Heather who was busy patching up the cut.

"Not as bad as Fishlegs made it sound I'm sure." Heather said, not taking her eyes off the wound "He can still fly and walk."

Astrid and Fishlegs arrived at this point. The group of kids moved away as Astrid knelt down at Toothless' head and began to stroke it. "What happened!?"

Heather shook her head and answered "I don't know…Fishlegs came and got me when Toothless arrived; that was…maybe a half hour ago."

"So where's Hiccup and the rest of them!" she asked anxiously. The answer was already in her head, but she didn't want to think of it."

Matt quickly began to shoo the group of students away, saying "Alright guys, we need to be alone now. Thanks for your help with Toothless."

"Is Hiccup ok?" Gustav asked quietly, letting the rest of the students walk out of the arena.

Matt put on a small smile and said "I'm sure he is…Hiccup survived the worse of the world countless times, so I'm sure he's ok."

Nodding, Gustav turned and ran to catch up to his friends.

Letting his smile slowly fade, Matt turned to the three and added "I hope he's ok…"


	3. Chapter Three

**Ok, Chapter three! I hope your enjoying this story. I have a lot of fun writing it! As per usual, enjoy!**

**Chapter Three**

Matt was frantically pouring over a copy of Hiccup's map. Staring at an 'x' that was marked on the map, he slowly leaned back in his chair and closed his bloodshot eyes. Alone in the room that was lit by single candle, he muttered to himself "Well…I guess we should have expected this."

"That's how I felt." A voice called from behind him.

Quickly standing up and turning around, Matt saw Heather walk from the shadows. Easing up, he said "I thought you were tending to Toothless."

"He's resting right now and there's not much else I can do. The cut wasn't that deep so he'll be able to fly tomorrow." Heather said, taking a seat next to Matt. Looking at the map, she quickly said "You're not planning on going by yourself are you?"

Sighing, Matt nodded and said "I don't want anyone else pulled into this."

"Since when did you make those kind of calls?" Heather said defiantly "I'm going with you!"

"No you're not!" Matt said with heat in his voice "The last thing we need is more people lost, missing or..." Matt's voice trailed off, not wanting to think of the third possibility.

"Which will happen to you if you go alone!" Heather said angrily.

Matt let out an exasperated sigh "Heather! Please! I don't want anything bad to happen to you!"

"We might need her to come with us." Another voice sounded in the dark.

Both Matt and Heather turned to face where the voice was coming from. Seeing Astrid and Valka walk towards them, Matt then exclaimed "How do I not hear this many people come into the house, let alone my room!?"

"You never been good at noticing the big stuff." Astrid said with a little jest in her voice. Looking at Valka, she then added "Since Hiccup's gone, Valka is actually going to be acting as chief; with Gobber's help of course."

"I kind of expected that honestly…" Matt said standing up from his chair "So…as acting Chief of Berk, what do you need me to do?"

Valka smiled slightly and then began to explain "I want you, Astrid, and Heather to go look for Hiccup and the others…Gobber and I will stay here and run the village. Fishlegs was kind enough to offer to run the academy while you were all gone."

"Why are you sending Heather and Astrid with me?" Matt asked quizzically "Do you think that's wise to send more of our crucial riders?"

"I do think it's wise, and I'm not sending them with you; I'm sending you with them." Valka corrected "If it is a hostile island that's attacking us, then I want to send you to help protect them. Or to attack those that have Hiccup. Astrid understands Toothless and can follow him. He'll lead you to where Hiccup was attacked." Looking at Heather, she added "If they are injured or hurt in anyway, Heather can help them."

Sighing, Matt looked at Heather whose face was beaming at the news. Seeing her face, he muttered "I still don't like it…"

"Of course you don't." Astrid cut in "You never like it when there's something dangerous out there and we have to go face it. Why do you act like a hero all the time?"

Matt looked down slightly and said "Because I could never forgive myself if any of you got hurt or killed when I could have done it myself…"

"Well stop!" Astrid returned gruffly "Matt...You're not always going to be able to protect everyone! And besides, the feeling is mutual. We don't want anything to happen to you!" Then smiling, she added "Well, any more than what has already happened to you."

Smiling, Matt nodded. Feeling Heather wrap her arm around him, he then said "Fine…but only on one condition."

"Oh?" Heather asked, looking up at Matt

"You rub my back tonight before we go." Matt said with smile.

"Deal!" Heather said laughing.

"Alright then…" Valka said with a small smile "I'll have your supplies ready to go. I suggest you leave as early in the morning as you can. I'm going to send Eret and his ship after you, to pick you up if needed."

"Guess you better hurry and give me that back rub then." Matt said, turning to Heather with a smirk.

* * *

><p>"Jeez! How many medical supplies do you need!?" Matt grunted as he hefted a second bag onto Wasatch. Wiping the sweat off his face, Matt inhaled the cool morning air to cool down. Even in the summer, the mornings and days were still cooler and damper than what he was used to. Being from a dry desert town in Utah, Matt adjusted to the humidity quite well and grew to love it; mainly because he loved the cold weather anyways. Dressed in his black and purple riding armor, Matt's shaggy black hair seemed to still make him look like a snowboarder than a dragon rider.<p>

"Just enough for the trip." Heather said simply "I don't want to find Hiccup and the others and not have what I need. It was a nightmare trying to find stuff for you on Eret's ship!" Still in her white tunic, she was wearing a light brown fur coat. Her hair was still draped over her eye, as well as braided similarly to Astrid's; other than letting it hang over her shoulder.

"I guess that's a good reason…" Matt huffed as he began to lash the bag to Wasatch "You sure you don't want to ride with me?"

"With what room you have left?" Heather asked, raising an eyebrow "With those bags, there's barely any room for you to stand on him!"

Matt just looked at Wasatch, who was very unhappy with the new weight added to him. Frowning a little, Matt said "I guess that's true…"

"You guys ready?" Astrid called out, walking towards them with Stormfly and Toothless behind her. Valka, Eret, and Fishlegs were with her as well.

"I think so…I hope no one on Berk gets hurt, I think Heather packed the entire island's healing ingredients." Matt said sarcastically, grinning at Heather.

"Oh please!" Heather replied, rolling her eyes "Just because I want to be ready doesn't mean you have to exaggerate that much."

Astrid then cut in "Alright, let's get going then." She then walked up to Toothless and made sure his tail was still locked in place to allow him to fly by himself.

Matt couldn't help but hear some anxiety in her voice. It made him remember the seriousness of the situation. Hiccup was missing, as were the twins and Snotlout with their dragons.

"Please be careful." Valka counseled "If you run into trouble or find something that's too risky, just fly back to Eret and get him and his men to help you."

"We'll be right behind you!" Eret said with a confident smile.

"Thank you." Astrid said with a small smile. Jumping on Stormfly, she then said again "Let's get going! Come on Heather!"

Smiling, Heather kissed Matt and then ran to Astrid. Shaking his head with a smile, Matt slid on his helmet and climbed onto Wasatch. Stepping into his bindings and strapping himself in, Matt gave Astrid a thumbs up.

"Alright Toothless, take us back to Hiccup!" She shouted anxiously. Toothless immediately launched into the air, roaring loudly. "Up Stormfly!" Astrid shouted, letting her dragon launch into the air and follow Toothless.

Matt followed quickly, letting Wasatch take control. Flying closely behind Astrid, Matt's view was suddenly clouded by a black fog. Coughing and trying to get out of the black cloud, Matt guided Wasatch away from whatever it was. Clearing his view, Matt saw a Smothering Smokebreath following closely behind Heather.

"So you're bringing him along too?" He shouted in an annoyed tone. Snatch was really good at messing with Matt, to which he learned to enjoy. To an extent.

"Of course!" Heather replied with a smile "Why can't I"

"I never said you couldn't" Matt said "Just curious as to why?"

"Why not?" Astrid cut in, turning to Matt "If we can bring our dragons, why can't she bring hers?"

"I…I don't really have a response for that." Matt answered sheepishly.

Astrid quickly returned her attention to Toothless who was gliding ahead of them. Staring at Astrid, Matt began to coax Wasatch to get closer to Stormfly. Flying alongside, Matt then said "Are you ok Astrid?"

Shocked at the question, Astrid looked at Matt and replied "What? Of course I am! Why do you ask?"

"I don't know…you just seem a little bit on edge." Matt replied, shrugging. Looking in her eyes, he added "Astrid, Hiccup's fine. We'll find him!"

Astrid quickly looked away from Matt and said "Are you sure? How do you know that?"

Astrid's response caught him off-guard. Not saying anything for a minute, he then explained "I don't know. It's just how it usually works out for us." Smiling slightly at a thought, he continued "Remember when I turned myself over to Dagur in exchange for you, Heather, and Hiccup?"

"Yeah, hard to forget." Astrid said, looking back at Matt.

"And when I tossed my snowboard goggles over to you guys?" Matt asked again.

"Yeah! To help us track you!" Astrid answered in an annoyed tone "Where are you going with this."

"Well you see," Matt said slowly through his helmet "I gave you my goggles so that you'd have something to remember me by. I never counted on Eret or Skullcrusher to find me. I mean come on, I didn't even know that he was a tracker dragon! On top of that, I totally forgot that they were coming behind us!"

"Wait…you never thought that we'd find you!?" Astrid said in shock. Heather also stared at Matt at this news flash.

Nodding, Matt began to explain "I was actually planning on being killed by Dagur. Well, I guess you can say I almost was, but that's beside the point. You found me and Heather in the end; and the rest is history." Laughing lightly, he finished saying "That's why I feel that he'll be fine. It usually works out that we find each other." Motioning towards Toothless that was ahead of them, he added "Besides, we have a Night Fury guiding us to find his best friend. What else do you need?"

Astrid smiled at this, saying "Thanks Matt…"

Shrugging, Matt quickly replied "It's my turn to help you out. After all you've done for me, this barely counts."

Astrid just smiled and returned her attention to Toothless.

Looking at Heather, who was smiling, Matt gave a thumbs up and also focused on Toothless. "Alright boy…bring us to Hiccup…" he whispered.

* * *

><p>Later that night, the three landed on a moderate sized island and began to set up camp. Snatch was busy grabbing twigs for Heather who was setting up the fire. Astrid also was gathering some bigger wood, setting it down near where the fire was going to be. Wasatch, Toothless, and Stormfly were sleeping next to each other, resting from the day long fight. Matt was out walking to a clearing with a map in hand, scouting out the island and trying to figure out where they were.<p>

Shaking his head, he looked up from the map and found himself on the shore. With the sound of the ocean crashing onto the gravel beach, Matt whispered to himself "Guess I should have paid more attention when Hiccup was teaching me how to draw a map. Let alone read one…" Looking behind him to where he came from, he added "I have no idea where we are…"

Folding up the map, Matt picked up a rock and tossed it into the ocean. The moon was full, illuminating everything with a mystical white tint. Taking in the sight, Matt was about to turn around and walk back to the camp. Just as he did so, something in the ocean caught his eye. Stopping himself, Matt stared at what he thought he saw. A black silhouette of an object was slowly getting bigger. Matt suddenly recoiled back in shock. It was a ship! And it was heading right for the island! Sprinting back to the camp, Matt saw that the fire was already lit. Not explaining himself, he quickly kicked over the fire and began to stamp it out.

"Matt! What are you doing!?" Heather asked in shock.

"Shh!" Matt said quietly "There's a ship coming right at us! We need to hide right now!"

Astrid was the first to respond. Helping stamp out the remains of the fire, she quickly grabbed her axe off of her saddle.

Matt reached for Heather, helping her up. Motioning to follow him, he began to sneak through some bushes. Heather and Astrid quickly followed with their dragons tailing behind them. Seeing a spot where they could lay down and be concealed, Matt turned to the dragons and whispered "Get out of here Wasatch! If they see you, they'll know people are here!"

"Why don't we fly away then?" Heather asked, laying down under the foliage.

Astrid quickly answered for Matt, saying "We need to find out if these are the people who attacked our ships or have Hiccup."

"Exactly. I bet we'll hear everything we need to when they land." Matt added to Astrid's answer. Turning back to the dragons, he repeated "Come on guys! Get going!" Motioning his arms, he began to shoo them away.

"It's alright girl!" Astrid said, backing up Matt "We'll be fine!"

Understanding their riders, the three dragons took off and flew into the night sky. Snatch was trailing behind them, being not as fast as the bigger dragons.

Crawling next to Heather, both Matt and Astrid laid their motionless with her. "How far was it?" Astrid whispered, keeping an ear out to hear anything out of the ordinary.

"It was coming towards us at a slow pace" Matt replied, equally quiet "But I'm sure they're already landing on the beach as we speak."

It seemed like an hour before they heard anything hinting to the fact that there was even a ship. Being near the shore, Matt heard something running along the beach. Turning ever so slowly towards the sound, he saw three men running along the gravel beach; all armed with long spears. Watching them run by, he felt Astrid tap on his shoulder. Turning to her, he saw exactly what she was trying to show him. 10 to 12 men were walking through the trees and bushes; coming from the direction that their camp was at.

"Spread out men…that fire was put our recently. They can't be far!" A voice sounded. Multiple 'Ayes' and 'Yes sirs!' responded at the comment.

Matt's mind was cranking when he heard the voice. Why did it sound so familiar? Turning to Astrid, he saw that her face was pale. Obviously something rocked her world. Looking at Heather, he saw that her face was also shocked when hearing the voice.

Watching the crowd of armed men walk by them, Astrid slowly turned to Matt and whispered "That's the man attacking our ships! He has to have Hiccup!"

"Wait, back up." Matt hissed back, floored by the claim "How do you know that?"

"That's Savage!" Astrid replied quietly, trying to keep her voice down.

"It's true!" Heather added, cutting into the conversation "Savage is Alvin's right hand man!"

"Was!" Astrid quickly corrected "He was Alvin's right hand man. When Alvin kicked the Berserker's off his island, he disappeared!"

Matt's head then put two and two together. "That's why we found an Outcast sword on our fishing ship…"

"Come on!" Astrid said quietly, standing up slowly from her cover "We need to find Hiccup!"

"Fine, but be careful! We don't want to get spotted by anyone!" Matt whispered back, also standing up.

Helping Heather to her feet, they followed Astrid who swiftly moved through the trees. Keeping up with her, they quickly found themselves at the beach where the ship was moored at. Hiding behind some boulders, Astrid quietly said "Two guards standing on the ship. Right next to the ramp on it."

Seeing the two guards, Matt then said "You need me to bait them away from you?"

Looking at Matt with a smile, Astrid nodded and commented "Just like when you needed that guard's armor."

"Wait…what's the plan?" Heather asked in a panicked voice.

"Just follow my lead." Astrid said with smile. Turning to Matt, she said "I'm ready when you are."

Nodding, Matt picked up a rock from the ground and quickly sprinted away from the boulder. Standing in the open, he made sure he had the guard's attention by chucking the rock at them. Landing next to the two guards, they quickly shouted at him and began to chase them. "Hold it right there!" One of them roared, sprinting towards Matt with a spear aimed at him. Matt quickly backpedaled away, drawing them past Astrid and Heather. Grabbing his handle, Matt extended his blade and was ready to receive them. As the two guards rushed Matt, one of them quickly fell to the ground. His friend turned around to see what happened, only to see Astrid with her axe swinging across. With the flat side of the axe smashing into the side of the guard's head, he quickly fell to the ground, joining his friend.

"A lot easier than last time!" Astrid whispered with a smile.

"Agreed!" Matt replied with a smile. Looking at the ship, he then said "I'll take the lead. Stay close!"

The three quickly ran up the ramp and onto the ship. On deck, Matt a ladder that led down into the ship. At the back of the ship was the cabin. Seeing the two options, Matt quickly said "So…you want to check the hold and I'll check the cabin?"

"Deal." Astrid said. Turning to Heather, who had a dagger out, she said "Come with me ok?"

"Why?" Heather asked curiously, looking at Astrid with a little confusion.

"Just go Heather." Matt said with a smile, slightly pushing her towards Astrid "We just need to check this place quick!"

Looking at Matt, she just nodded and began to follow Astrid down the ladder. Matt then ran into the cabin with his sword raised, sure that he was going to find someone in there. Shocked that it was empty, Matt moved a lot quieter around the cabin. Inside was a maze of hammocks, chests, and other random objects laying on the floor, making it hard to move around inside. Getting past the obstacles, he saw a closed door; to which Matt quickly ran to it and tried to open it. Feeling the door not even budge, he looked around and tried to find keys to it. Scrummaging through some chests and containers, Matt didn't find a key, but something that would help him get through the door. "Perfect!" Matt whispered with a smile. Sheathing his sword, he picked up a massive hammer and walked back to the door. Staring at the hinges, he raised the hammer and brought it down on top. Feeling the weight of the hammer break the hinges, Matt let go of the weapon and pulled the door down the rest of the way. "Oh…well I guess that's good that I found you…" Matt said to himself, looking into the closet that he opened up. On a shelf was Hiccup's helmet and fire sword. Grabbing them, he slid Hiccup's helmet on his head, since he left his clipped to his saddle on Wasatch. Gripping Hiccup's sword in his free hand, he then quietly made his way to the exit.

"Wait…where are the two men that we had here?" A voice shouted from outside.

Matt froze and hugged the wall. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" Matt whispered loudly. They were too late. The scouting party was returning.

"I don't know…Toller, go get the rest of the men! Reaker and I will check the hold."

"Got it!" a voice said.

Matt could hear footstep run down the ramp. Breathing a sigh of relief, Matt knew they had a small window of time to get off the ship. Peaking around the corner, he saw the last Viking step down the ladder. Silently walking to the hole, he heard something that made his heart sink.

"Astrid! Look out!" Hiccup's voice sounded from below

"Hey get off of her!" Snotlout's voice then followed

"Astrid!" Heather cried from inside. Sounding like she was struggling herself, she then yelled "Let go of me!"

The twins were also shouting, angry with whatever was going on down there.

That was it. Not even using the ladder, Matt leapt from hole and dropped in. After landing, and ignoring the pain that flared up in his leg, Matt saw Hiccup, the Twins, and Snotlout in massive cell. Their dragons were in another one next to them, all tied down with ropes. To his horror, he saw Astrid laying on the ground with one of the men standing over her. The second was holding Heather, pinning her arms to her side.

Silently walking behind them, Matt extended his sword and ran it through the Viking that held Heather. Not shocking the Viking for fear of shocking Heather as well, Matt extended Hiccup's sword in his other hand and slashed it across the other Vikings chest as he turned to see what was going on. Watching his foe stumble back, Matt drew his sword out of the first Viking, letting him drop to the ground, and then stabbed the second one. Letting him drop as well, Matt retracted both blades and went to help Heather up.

"Matt!" Hiccup said with relief on his face. Staring at Matt through the bars, he added "I was thinking they got you too!"

"Not yet!" Matt said anxiously, pulling Heather up. "But if we don't leave now we all will!"

"I got the key!" Heather said, grabbing it from the ground. Running to the cell door, she began to try and fit the key in door.

Matt walked over to where Astrid lay. A good sized bump was growing on her head, telling Matt exactly what happened to her. A small stream of blood was also coming from the bump. Kneeling down, he started to pick her up when he heard a voice behind them.

"Well…I guess we'll have a few more guests with us after all!"


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter 4! Hope your enjoying it as much as I am! Thanks to all those who are supporting it. Just a FYI; dreaming-about-dragons has been reviewing the story, but sadly it won't let him post them. Hopefully that's fixed now. As per usual, enjoy!**

**Chapter Four**

Matt spun around, drawing both swords and standing in a defensive position. His heart sank as he saw Savage and three other men, all armed with crossbows and pointing them right at him. Savage's face quickly sent Matt into a flashback. When he was standing in the arena at Outcast Island and was watching Savage tell Alvin that they starved Wasatch in order for it to chase him.

"I'm not entirely happy with what you've done to my crew…" Savage said with a scowl "Don't expect much mercy from me…"

"Since that was the first thing I was expecting." Matt said sarcastically, still in a defensive position.

"Well, you do have guts, I'll give you that." Savage said in an annoyed tone. Motioning towards Hiccup and the others, he said "Drop your weapons and I won't kill your friends."

Matt glanced back to where Hiccup, Heather, Snotlout, and the twins were. The cell door was open now, but it might as well be closed as they were still trapped in the ship.

Looking back at Savage, Matt just glared at him with a hate filled face. Retracting both blades, he dropped them on the floor. Pulling off Hiccup's helmet, he then dropped it next to the handles.

"That's better." Savage said, a small smile forming on his face "Since the door is already open, why don't you kindly pick up Astrid right there and walk into the cell…makes my job that much easier."

Matt's eye twitched. He wished he had a crossbow, a gun, anything that would let him end Savage's life. Slowly kneeling down next to Astrid, he gently picked her up and began to walk into the cell. Heather stared at him, unsure of what to do. Motioning her to step inside first, Matt looked down from her gaze. He was so ashamed that he failed his friends.

Walking inside, he looked at everyone that was in the cell with him. The twins were busy whispering to each other, obviously fighting each other. Snotlout was just glaring at him with an angry look. Hiccup was also staring at him, but with a more understanding face.

Resting Astrid on the ground, he heard Savage call out "Good. Now shut the door."

Matt walked to the cell door and held one of the bars. Staring at Savage for a second, he reluctantly pulled the door closed. Hearing the metal clink in the lock, Matt shook the door to show Savage that it was shut and locked.

"That's better!" Savage said with a larger smile, walking towards the cell. Grabbing the keys that were on the ground, he continued "Now…stay here for a bit. We'll be heading to a new island now that more of you are missing from Berk." Laughing, Savage turned and walked back up the ladder; all three of the men that were with him also followed with both Matt's and Hiccup's sword and the helmet.

Staring helplessly at Savage as he disappeared, Matt gripped the bars and rested his head against them. Closing his eyes, he silently dropped an F-bomb, angry with himself and the situation in general. Feeling a hand rest on his shoulder, Matt turned to see Hiccup. "I'm sorry Hiccup." Matt said looking down from Hiccup's gaze "I can't believe I let them sneak behind me like that."

"Matt." Hiccup said, making him look into his eyes "The good guys don't always win. You did what you could and you about succeeded at it!"

"That's actually making me feel worse." Matt moaned, leaning his back against the metal bars.

"It shouldn't." Hiccup quickly said. Grabbing Matt, he sat him down on a barrel. Taking a seat by him, Hiccup then asked "How did you find us?"

Not really showing any emotion, Matt just shrugged slightly and said "They found us actually. We were camped on an island after following Toothless. We saw the ship coming and snuck on board when they went to search the island. You know the rest of the story." At that, he deactivated his brace. Letting the pain from the past activities settle in slowly, he breathed a sigh of frustration.

"Toothless is ok!?" Hiccup said excitedly, his face perking up after hearing this.

Matt's head also jumped up at the thought, snapping him out of the thought the pain. "Yeah! Toothless, Stormfly, and Wasatch are still out there!" With a small smile on his face, he quietly said "Our dragons haven't been spotted! We still have a chance to get out!"

"Good!" Snotlout said angrily, leaning against the wall of the ship "I'm ready to kick Savage's butt for what he did to Hookfang. Looking at his tied down Nightmare, he said "Big mistake caging him up!"

Hiccup just nodded. Looking at Matt, he asked "Toothless is alright then? I mean the cut wasn't that deep?"

"No. It was really shallow. It'll heal all the way pretty quick actually." Heather cut in. Heather at this point was tending to Astrid, who still lay unconscious on the damp floor. Rolling up a burlap bag, she set it under Astrid's head to prop it up and then began to clean the wound with a cloth that she kept with her. "How did Savage get you guys anyways?"

Hiccup let out a long sigh. Getting off of his barrel, he sat next to Astrid and moved her hair out of her face. "We landed on an island and began to check it out. I sent the twins one way, Snotlout another, and I went through the middle of the island. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first, until I got to the other end of the island and saw a ship anchored and a small camp on the beach. As I was checking out the island I saw Snotlout carried by two men as well as Hookfang in a net."

"Hey! I never heard the guys behind me!" Snotlout interrupted "I was out cold!"

"Yeah, you're really bad at paying attention." Ruffnut said.

"But I still notice that you like me! Right princess?" Snotlout replied with a smile.

Ruffnut groaned and Tuffnut just shook his head.

"Anyways!" Hiccup said out loud, getting the conversation back "When I saw Snotlout captured, the twins attacked the camp. They didn't see me and so they just…acted on their own."

"Hey. We just wanted to…have some fun!" Tuffnut said with a mischievous grin.

"Yeah…and to try and burn Snotlout." Ruffnut added with a wider grin.

"So, after they strafed the camp, multiple Bolas were thrown at them. Barf and Belch got hit in the wing and fell out of the sky." Hiccup continued "That was when I was about to get on Toothless and try and save them."

"But?" Matt asked, trying to speed up the story

Sighing again, Hiccup began to say "Savage and another guy came out of the bushes behind us. I was hit with some Bolas, which tied my arms to my sides. I knew we were in trouble and so I locked Toothless' tail and told him to get help. I was grabbed and yanked off of him when he took off and Savage took a swipe at him. I knew he got hit because he fell to the ground and I saw a red slash on his side." Taking a second to relive what had happened, he continued "Apparently, and luckily, it wasn't a big injury; he just took off again and flew away." Looking down at Astrid, he whispered softly "And then you know the rest of the story."

Matt looked up for a second. This mission was a failure from the beginning. Now, it was a waiting game. Waiting to see when their dragons would come and attempt to save their riders. "I hope they don't try to get us now…" Matt whispered.

"Who?" Heather asked, looking up from Astrid.

"Our dragons." Matt explained "I bet Savage and his men are expecting them to attack right now."

"Would he know that we have dragons?" Heather asked.

"He knows Astrid." Hiccup answered "So he knows there's at least one dragon out there."

"Well, he's probably counting on Toothless coming as well." Matt added "So he's probably expecting two."

"Dragons are smarter than what we give them credit for." Hiccup said with a small smile "I'm willing to bet they're making a plan right now!"

At that, they felt the ship begin to move. With the waves pounding at the sides of the ship, Matt began feel himself bob up and down with the water.

"Well…the ships sailing now…" Hiccup announced sadly.

"I guess we'll find out if the dragons come to help us soon enough." Heather said, returning her attention to Astrid. Wrapping the cloth around Astrid's head, she sat up from her work and said "There. That'll stop the bleeding. She's going to wake up with a headache though."

"Thank you Heather." Hiccup said quietly. Stroking Astrid's hair, he said "She'll be grateful too."

"So…hold on." Matt began to ask, thinking of something "What's the deal with Savage? Astrid mentioned something about him disappearing?"

"Yeah, that's basically all we knew about him after Alvin reclaimed Outcast Island." Hiccup replied. Turning to Matt, he asked "By the way, how did that go for you?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Not now at least." Matt quickly said, controlling the sudden flare of anger that welled up inside of him.

Nodding, Hiccup began to explain "I didn't learn much since being in here, since that was the second time I saw him actually. All I know is that he's been actively pursuing a living elsewhere. I'm not sure what he does though, but my guess is that he solicits his services to others."

"Wait. Like a mercenary?" Matt asked quizzically.

"Or anything else. Sailors, trappers, whatever he could be. Maybe he was sent by Dagur to get us for him. I don't know." Hiccup replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well…crap…" Matt whispered "And we walked right into his hands."

"We did too!" Hiccup said quickly "Matt, none of this is your fault!"

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is" Matt retorted "We're stuck here, going somewhere we don't know, and with no idea what's going to happen!"

"So we take it as it comes…" Hiccup said solemnly "Matt, I understand that you're frustrated with yourself and with what's happening right now. But you're not helping anyone here by beating yourself up and having small rages. Calm down, take a breather, and try to get some sleep. I have a feeling we won't be getting a lot of it in the near future."

Matt stared at Hiccup who then looked back down on Astrid. He was right. He was acting very rash and it was putting everyone on edge. Even the dragons in the cell next to them seemed to be more anxious as well. "Sorry Hiccup…I didn't mean to-"

Hiccup cut Matt off with "You don't have to explain to me. It's just how you work. If you can't get past something, you keep trying until you do. You never give up!"

Heather then stood by Matt and took him by the hand. "Come on…let's try to get some sleep." She said quietly, pulling him off the barrel.

Matt was still furious that they weren't going to try and come up with a plan to escape. But, he also knew that Heather and Hiccup were right. He was going to need all the sleep he could get before even attempting an escape. Letting himself be pulled by Heather, he said "Fine…I guess we'll just wait this one out then…"

Sitting down and leaning against the wall, Heather laid her head on Matt's shoulder. Closing her eyes, she whispered "I love you Matt…"

Surprised at the comment, Matt looked down at her and smiled "I love you too Heather…more actually."

"Whatever." She replied flatly, trying to hide a smile growing on her face.

Looking up from her, Matt saw Hiccup still sitting with Astrid, looking out for her. Sighing heavily, he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. He was a lot more tired than he thought, as it wasn't even a minute before he drifted into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>Matt woke up to the loud creaking of the cell door being opened. Jolting awake, he stared at Savage who was standing with his men.<p>

"Time to get up!" He said with an evil smile "Everyone up and at 'em!"

Matt let a cold anger burn in him, wishing he could do something to wipe the smug look off of Savage's face. Standing up, he extended his hand to help Heather up as well. He saw Hiccup tenderly helping Astrid up, who was holding her head. "Are you ok Astrid?" he asked, limping slowly up to her.

Before she could respond, Savage cut in "Talk later. Step out of the cell one at a time."

Matt glared at Savage and then to his friends. Hiccup also looked angry, probably for the same reason why Matt was.

Leading the group, Hiccup stepped out of the cell first. Two men grabbed his arms and shackled them behind his back. Heather was next. Grabbed in a similar manner, she too had her arms cuffed behind her. Matt flared up with anger, unable to do anything to help her but watch. Following her, he felt his arms grabbed, and also cuffed. Being led up the ladder, Matt had to let his eyes adjust to the bright sunlight. Noticing the sun sitting at high noon, Matt finally was able to see around him.

The ship was moored at a new island, one that made Matt gasp when he saw it. A bare island with few trees. The trees that were there, were burned and charred remains. Lightning storms were prevalent, mainly towards the center of the island. Flashbacks were coming to him. Standing on a small boat with Dagur, Matt was forced to train Death Killer here. This was the island where he was almost killed. Looking at Heather, who was also staring at him, he nodded as if to answer the question he imagined was in her head.

Guided down the ramp, the prisoners were then forced to sit in the middle of the camp that was being built. Sitting in a circle, Hiccup asked "Is this the island where-"

"I trained Death Killer?" Matt finished for him. Nodding, he said "Sure is. Nothing's really changed, even the lightning."

"Think its Wasatch?" Heather whispered, not wanting to tip off the guards.

Shrugging, Matt replied "I have no idea. If it is, he's really pissed right now. The only time I saw him bring up a lightning storm like that was when the Berserker's were attacking Berk."

Astrid at this point groaned, her eyes shut trying to mask the pain in her head. Hiccup scooted closer to her, trying to comfort her. "Hey…how are you feeling?"

"Like a Terrible Terror that flew into a stone wall…" Astrid groaned, shaking her head slightly. Looking up from where she was, she asked "So…where are we?"

Savage answered her, walking up to the group. "This is Storm Island! I officially welcome you here!"

Everyone just stared at him, not wanting to react to his cheery mood.

Shrugging, he began to give a history lesson on the island. "Storm Island got its name because of the constant lightning storms here. Anyone who lands here can't go any deeper in the island because the lightning. Because of that, no one ever tries to explore here." A serious look came over his face as he hissed "So don't expect to be found here."

"What do you want with us Savage?" Hiccup asked angrily.

"It's not what I want with you…it what someone else wants with you." Savage replied, turning to walk away "I have a customer that needs some able bodied…laborers."

Matt's head raised up in alarm. He's a slaver! He's been selling slaves to people! With this new panic that set into his head, he began to fight the chains that held him.

"You're not going to be able to do much without these!" Savage teased, holding a ring of keys in his hand "But please, keep on trying! Make's it entertaining to watch."

Matt just glared at Savage who laughed out loud. Turning he began to walk back to the ship.

Matt was about to say something to Hiccup when a murmur began to sound through the camp. Turning to see what was going on, Matt saw the men pointing to something further inland. Glancing over to where they were pointing at, he saw to his horror, lightning striking the ground. Each lightning strike got closer, heading straight for the camp.

"Look out!" Hiccup shouted, unable to really do anything to hide from the oncoming lightning. Just before it hit the camp, dozens of smaller lightning bolts struck at the camp; all around the circle of prisoners. Before Matt could respond, a layer of thick black smoke covered them. Unable to see anything, he felt himself jolted into the air. His vision instantly clear, he saw that Wasatch had grabbed him and was flying him away from the camp. "Wasatch! You the dragon!" he shouted out of excitement. They now had a fighting chance.

"Toothless! You're ok!" Hiccup's voice sounded to the right of Matt. Turning to see where Hiccup's voice sounded, he saw him being carried by Toothless and flying alongside of Wasatch. Astrid was also carried by Stormfly to the right of Hiccup.

Landing behind a hill, the three were dropped and the dragons landed softly next to them.

"Oh it's so good to see you girl!" Astrid said, leaning against her dragon as if to try and hug her.

Matt and Hiccup were busy hitting the shackles on their hands against a boulder, desperate to get out of them.

"Toothless!" Hiccup said quickly, giving up and trying bash them open "Try and bite them off!"

Matt turned to watch the attempt, only to see Snatch on the ground looking up at him. In his mouth were the metal keys that Savage was holding! "Snatch you sneaky devil you!" Matt said with a wide smile. Kneeling down Matt picked up the keys in his hands and limped over towards Hiccup. "Hiccup get over here!" he shouted.

Hiccup quickly ran to him, which he turned around and quickly raised his arms so that they were easier to access. Matt fumbled with the keys as he tried to fit them into the hole of the shackles. After a few failed attempts, Matt finally released the shackles and let them drop to the ground. Hiccup whirled around and grabbed the keys. Releasing both Matt and Astrid, he jumped onto Toothless. "Alright, we all make runs and grab the rest of the group." He said, turning see both Matt and Astrid jump on their dragons.

"Uh…Hiccup." Matt said "I have another idea."

"Matt!" Hiccup shouted "This is not a good time to be argumentative!"

"I know! But you two get the rest of the guys, I'm going to get the dragons!" Matt threw in "They're still in the ship!" Activating his brace, he then added "Plus they can help us finish this!" At that, he released the bags that were still tied to Wasatch, letting them land on the ground.

Hiccup thought for a second, then said "Fine! But be careful! We can't risk anyone else being caught again!"

Matt launched into the air, letting Wasatch roar out of anger. "Alright boy, light up their world one more time!"

Wasatch roared and radiated with lightning. Flying towards the camp, Matt saw multiple Bolas fly towards him. Lifting his foot up and to the left, he guided Wasatch into a roll; dodging the Bolas. Wasatch then let loose of his electricity and shot multiple lightning bolts at the camp. Striking around the circle of prisoners; the rest of the slavers dove out of the way, trying to dodge the lightning strikes.

Hiccup and Astrid then strafed the camp, picking up both the twins. Matt let Wasatch keep firing lightning bolts, guiding him towards the ship. Flying over the ship, Matt jumped off and landed on the deck. The inertia of jumping off of Wasatch caused him to roll on the deck. Letting the pain settle in his leg, Matt pushed himself up. Ignoring the pain that kept on running up and down in his leg, Matt ran into the cabin of the ship. Running inside, he saw the closet door he opened last night. Getting close to it, he noticed the hinges were still broken from the last time he broke into it. Smiling, he pulled the door down and let it crash onto the floor. Grabbing Hiccup's helmet, he slid it on and grabbed both swords.

Bolting out of the cabin, Matt saw Wasatch again unleash a fury of lightning into the camp. "Keep it up Wasatch!" He shouted, climbing down the ladder to where Hookfang and Barf and Belch were. Finally reaching the bottom, Matt turned to see the dragons eyeing him anxiously and fighting the ropes that held them down. "Hold on guys…I got you!" Matt said loudly, running to the door. Trying to open the door, Matt realized that Hiccup had the keys. Looking around frantically, he finally just extended his blade and began to reach at the ropes tying Barf's head down. Feeling the tip of his sword catch the rope, he lifted the blade up. Feeling the rope give away to the sword, Matt saw Barf raise his head and began fill the hold with gas. Matt instantly ran to the ladder and began to climb out of the hold, knowing what was going to happen. Belch then shot a spark out of a small crack in his mouth.

The explosion rocked Matt's world. Being blown off the ladder, his ears rang at the sound of the explosion; Hiccup's helmet that he was wearing was also blown off of him. Feeling debris land crash on top of his body, Matt panicked when he couldn't move. Letting the smoke clear out, Matt saw that a beam had crashed on his good leg and pinned him to the ground. The explosion had burned the ropes off the dragons, letting them out. It had also blown a hole out of the side of the ship and, by consequence, allowing water to pour in.

"Thanks a lot guys!" Matt shouted at the dragons as they flew out of the hole. Grunting, he tried to move the beam off his leg. Only budging it slightly, Matt was forced to stop as it was being pushed across his leg. Feeling water soak his free leg, Matt started to panic. The ship was also starting to roll as the water began to fill it. Looking through the hole, Matt saw Wasatch fly across the opening. "Wasatch!" Matt yelled, trying to catch his dragon's attention. Staring at the hole, he did see Wasatch again, but was carrying Heather away. "Well…I guess that's a good reason to not hear me." Matt muttered. Feeling the water at his waist, Matt frantically looked for anything to help him get out.

"Well, I should have expected this would have happened to you." A voice called from above.

Looking back up, Matt breathed a sigh of relief. Hiccup was lowering himself down the massive hole. Landing in the water. Hiccup grabbed one end of the beam and began to lift it. Feeling the beam lift enough for him to move, Matt pulled his leg out and stood up from the water.

"Thanks Hiccup. Almost a clean get-away." Matt said, breathing heavily.

Dropping the beam in the water and letting it splash both of them, Hiccup replied breathlessly "When I saw the dragons come out of the explosion, I was half expecting to find you to be a pile of ash; not about to drown!"

"Yeah, I wasn't quite ready for them to blow the place up." Matt said, making sure his leg was ok.

"Come on! We got everyone out of the camp!" Hiccup said, running through the water. Picking up a crate and setting it under the ledge of the hole, he motioned Matt to follow him.

Running to Hiccup, Matt picked up his helmet that landed on the floor and handed it to him. Smiling he said "I think this is yours." After Hiccup took it, he then handed the sword to him as well "As does this!"

Hiccup shook his head with a smile "I knew you had a second motive!" Sliding the helmet on, he jumped on the crate and hoisted himself up to the deck. Matt followed. Grabbing the edge of the deck, he pulled himself up. Resting his stomach on the edge, he rolled the rest of his body onto the deck. Looking up, he saw Toothless anxiously waiting for them. Hiccup was already climbing on Toothless, locking his leg in place. Just as Matt began to seat himself on Toothless, Savage's voice shouted behind them.

"Get them boys!" Savage shouted "Don't let them get away!"

Toothless whirled around and fired a plasma blast at the group running up the twisted ramp. Blowing them away, Toothless then launched into the air. Matt was feeling the rush of the wind until he felt Toothless dive straight towards the ground.

"Pull up Hiccup!" Matt shouted, trying to find something to grip.

"I am! Hold on!" Hiccup yelled back, getting lower on the saddle.

Matt felt Toothless hit the ground, sending both him and Hiccup rolling away. Finally stopping, Matt looked up to see Toothless stand back up and turn to face the rushing slavers. "What happened!?" Matt shouted, drawing his sword out and letting sparks radiate from his blade.

"I don't know! We were fine until I went to pull up!" Hiccup replied, also drawing his sword and standing next to Matt. Glancing at Toothless, Hiccup then yelled "Oh perfect! His tail is slashed! The fabric's torn to shreds!"

Matt was about to counter a charge from a slaver, only to see him get hit with a lightning bolt. Turning around, he saw Wasatch land next to him, urging him to get on. Jumping on the angry Skrill and strapping himself in, Matt shouted "Ride him out of here! We can't stay here anymore!"

Already on the idea before Matt suggested it, Hiccup jumped on Toothless and began to ride him away from the battle. Matt launched Wasatch in the air and let him unleash a fury of lightning on their pursuers. Satisfied that they were turned around and running away, he guided Wasatch to follow Hiccup.

Arriving at where everyone was, Matt unstrapped himself and jumped down. Running to Heather, who was just released from her shackles, he grabbed her in a hug and said "I'm so glad you're ok!"

Smiling, Heather squeezed Matt back, saying "I should be the one happy you're ok! When I saw the explosion go off, I was sure you were hurt. Well, more hurt than you are." At that, she tenderly rubbed her hand on his cheek, revealing blood on it.

Looking at her hand, Matt gave a small smile and said "Must have been the debris. I didn't feel a thing other than the heat from the explosion."

"And the beam that landed on you." Hiccup threw in, walking to Astrid and pulling her in a hug.

Heather stared at Matt, who just whispered "I'll tell you later." Hugging her, he didn't show signs of letting go.

Astrid was busy being held by Hiccup as well, grateful that they were able to finally see each other free and alive. "Hiccup…you really need to work on your expeditions. There isn't a time when you leave that something bad happens." She whispered, resting her head in his chest.

Chuckling, Hiccup said "I might have too. It's really starting to get old."

After a few moments of finally being able to be with each other, Hiccup pulled away and went to inspect Toothless' tail. Rubbing the remnants of the fabric, Hiccup sighed and said "So…We're not leaving this island without getting a new tail for Toothless. There's nothing left to use for anything!"

Astrid knelt down and also inspected the tail. She then said "Wait…Eret was supposed to be behind us! He shouldn't be too far now!"

Hiccup's face brightened up at this, to which he asked "So what did you leave for him to track?"

Astrid's face suddenly fell, realizing that there was nothing for them to track. Shaking her head, she said "We…we didn't leave anything!"

Matt then spoke up "Hiccup. What if we send everyone to find Eret? While they go get him, you and I can play hide and seek with these 'slavers'. That way we can try and land a few more hits on them and still be able to evade them."

"Now wait just a second." Astrid said standing up "Why are you sending all of us except you Matt?"

Squaring up to Astrid, he explained "Let's recount the recent past Astrid. We were captured when we tried to bust Hiccup and the others out, and we were almost killed when the dragon's attacked their camp."

"Actually, you were the only one that was almost killed" Heather cut in, standing next to Astrid.

"Not the point!" Matt said angrily, looking at Heather "The point is, whenever we have big group, we tend to be a bigger target!"

"And where ever you go, you always end up either burned, shocked, cut, or drowned." Astrid yelled, motioning to Matt's wet armor. Turning to Hiccup, she looked at him in the eye saying "I'm staying with you until we get Toothless off this island. No debate!"

"I'm staying too!" Heather said, walking up to Matt "I'm sick of being treated like I'm helpless. I want to help!"

"Heather!" Matt began to argue, anger all over his face.

"Stop." Heather warned, glaring at Matt "The only reason why Wasatch was able to grab you was because Snatch covered all of us in smoke! Face it Matt, you need us if you need a get-away plan!" Right on cue, Snatch flew and landed on her shoulder, looking at Matt in the eye.

Before Matt could retaliate, Hiccup cut in "Stop! Everyone stop!" Glaring at Matt, he continued to say "I'm in charge. I make the decisions. Got it?"

Matt nodded, realizing that he stepped outside his bounds.

"Here's the plan." Hiccup said, looking at everyone. "Since Astrid and Heather are committed on staying, I'm sending Snotlout and the twins to go find Eret and bring him here."

Matt bit his tongue. This was not what he wanted.

"Astrid, Heather, Matt, and I will stay. Even though I'm half tempted to send Matt." Hiccup said glaring at him.

Shocked, Matt yelled "What? Why!?"

"Because you were almost killed again!" Hiccup replied loudly "But not just that, you keep trying to tell Astrid and Heather what to do, and frankly, you've been having a hot head lately. We don't need that; especially now!"

Matt stared at Hiccup in disbelief. Everything seemed to be backfiring on him.

Fuming for a second, Hiccup then added "But I won't. I know you'll be a mess if I send you away. And frankly, I do need you here with me."

Matt just nodded, silenced after Hiccup laid into him. Was he really acting that bad? Looking at Heather and Astrid, he thought "Why not send them away to make sure they'll be safe?"

Turning to the twins and Snotlout, Hiccup asked "Can you guys do that?"

"Don't worry about us." Snotlout said in a strangely serious manner "We'll be back before you even realize we're gone."

The twins also nodded, agreeing with Snotlout; which took a lot for Ruffnut to do.

"Get going then. We're going to move as well, I don't want them to sneak up on us." Hiccup said, walking over to Toothless. Sitting on his saddle, he tossed his helmet to Snotlout and said "Use this so Skullcrusher can track us. Good luck guys!"

"Be right back!" Tuffnut shouted "Let's go Belch!"

The Zippleback immediately took off, with Hookfang following closely by.

Staring at the two dragons, Hiccup then said "Let's get moving. I want to put as much distance between us and Savage as we can."

Nodding, Astrid climbed onto Stormfly. Heather began to walk towards Wasatch to get on with Matt who was strapping himself in. Looking at him in the eye, she smiled at him, excited to be able to finally travel with him. Matt just stared at her and then made Wasatch begin to walk away, leaving her behind. Shocked, Heather was about to call him out when Hiccup stopped her.

"He's probably thinking of what I said. Just let him cool off and have some time to himself." He said quietly, motioning her to get on behind him "He'll be normal in an hour or so."

Heather just stared at Matt as Wasatch led the group, unsure of what was really bugging him.


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter 5! Hope you enjoy this one! Also, last chapter I gave a small shout-out to dreaming-about-dragons. I said he couldn't post a a review; come to find out, he is actually a she...so...my bad. Anyways, enjoy!**

**Chapter Five**

Heather finished scratching Snatch's chin and looked up to see Matt sitting against a boulder with Wasatch laying down next to him; staring at the lightning clouds in the distance. All day he distanced himself from not only from her, but also Hiccup and Astrid. Sighing, she finally stood up and began to walk over to him for a third time that day. Last time she tried to talk to him, he just walked away to the other side of the camp. Matt saw her starting his way again. Giving up on trying to be alone, Matt just returned his gaze up to the raging clouds.

"I'm glad you didn't walk away from me this time." Heather said softly, sitting down next to him.

Matt didn't say anything, but just kept on looking at the clouds.

Sitting awkwardly with him for minute, Heather never said a thing. She didn't know what to say to him. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally asked the obvious question in her head. "Why are you mad at me? What's bugging you?" She steamed, a little frustrated that Matt was acting that way.

Looking at her, Matt quietly replied "I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at myself. I have no idea what's bugging me. I'm just..." Matt breathed heavily as if venting pressure building up inside of him. Closing his eyes, he began to say "I thought I was making the right decisions in trying to keep you and Astrid away from danger. After being corrected by Valka and now Hiccup, I'm not really sure I'm even able to make correct decisions."

Heather reached for Matt's hand and pulled it closer to her. Looking at him, she said "Why don't you want me or Astrid to come?"

Scoffing, Matt shot back "Why do you think Heather? Look at what happened to me! I've been maimed, shocked, beat, you name it! I've been there." In a lower voice he explained "I don't want you to feel what I felt or go through what I went through."

"Matt…" Heather said softly "You know that I'm not sheltered from trouble and bad experiences. I almost lost my parents! I was captured by the Outcasts, forced to deceive and steal from Hiccup and Astrid; the list goes on! Trust me when I say I know a little bit about what you went through!" Gesturing towards Astrid, she added "Astrid has also seen her fair share of trouble. She was captured by Drago! She saw her dragon taken away from her and she was about to be killed! She knows a little about what you went through as well!"

Matt didn't say anything. He knew Heather was right, he just hated admitting that he was wrong for trying to protect them by sheltering them.

Smiling weakly, Heather lifted her other hand and brushed Matt's cut on his cheek. "Do you have regrets? Do you regret anything that you've gone through? What about choosing to stay here?"

"Of course I don't have regrets!" Matt said defensively "I'm so happy that I chose to stay here! You know that!"

"I do know that." Heather said with a wider smile "Matt, I too don't have regrets. The only regret I'd have is if we were separated and I never got to see you again." Scooting closer to him, she pleaded "Please don't just send me away next time something goes wrong. I chose to come with you for better or for worse. I know for a fact that Astrid feels the same way."

Finally smiling since they separated from Snotlout and the twins, Matt said "I'm sorry Heather. I guess it was my turn to learn how to treat others…" Looking towards Hiccup and Astrid, who were busy talking amongst themselves on the other side of the fire, he asked "Have I been a little impatient lately?"

"Well…" Heather began to say "A little more than usual. Not as bad as you're probably thinking, but it has been noticeable. You just seem…angrier now."

Sighing, Matt rested his head against the boulder. Shutting his eyes for a minute, he explained "I think I know why too."

"Why?" Heather asked, looking up at him.

"Because I reacted badly to Alvin." Matt answered "It was a really bad experience for me; not because of what he said or what I saw." Stopping for second, he then corrected himself saying "Well…ok maybe a little bit of what I saw, but I think the real reason why it was such a bad experience was because I told myself nothing was going to change. Alvin will stay as Alvin and I need to never be hurt by him again."

Heather didn't say anything. This was the first time he really opened up about Alvin and she didn't want to stop him from keeping on going.

Looking down, he added "I went there knowing that I would never forgive him. And that's exactly what happened. After that, I guess I was just taking out my frustration with my words and actions…"

"Matt…you're a good man." Heather said with a smile "That's one thing I've always like about you, you're always recognizing your weaknesses and try to conquer them." Closing her eyes as she lay her head on his shoulder, she said "It's good to have you back with us."

Matt didn't say anything, but just kept on staring at the clouds, deep in thought. It made him suddenly feel a lot better about himself after hearing Heather's compliments. Smiling slightly to himself, he closed his eyes and rested his head against Heathers. Snatch then flew and landed on the two of them, covering them with his small wings. "Thank you Heather…" Matt whispered.

Hiccup and Astrid were watching the two talk, and ultimately fall asleep together. Smiling, Astrid looked at Hiccup and said "Well, I guess Heather talked some sense into Matt after all!"

"I hope so." Hiccup said, eyeing Matt "I was getting a little worried when he wouldn't even come close to the fire. We can't have him fall apart on us now." Turning to Astrid, he asked "Was I tough on him earlier today?"

"You needed to be." Astrid said, reaching up and began to braid Hiccup's hair "He was getting a little out of hand as far as ordering others around."

Shaking his head, Hiccup asked a second question "Was visiting Alvin that bad of an experience?"

"It could have gone better if Matt didn't have an attitude." Astrid answered, focusing on the hair she was weaving together "But I do think it was hard for him when he saw Alvin personally."

Sighing, Hiccup shook his head "I meant that to be a good experience for him. I guess he really has an issue that he can't just get over with."

"You knew that from the beginning." Astrid said, calling him out. Finishing with the braid, she then leaned against him saying "You were just hoping for a better outcome than the one that actually happened."

Nodding, Hiccup let out an exasperated sigh. Leaning against Toothless, who was fast asleep, he said quietly "I miss him."

"Who? Matt?" Astrid asked with a confused look.

"Dad." Hiccup said softly. A small tear was forming in his eye, which he quickly wiped away.

Smiling tenderly at Hiccup, Astrid asked "Why now? I know you've always missed him, but why right now?"

Hiccup shrugged slightly, looking blankly into the sky. "I guess because I'm still not the chief he was…"

"That's because you're not him Hiccup!" Astrid said quickly, pulling his face to make him look at her "Hiccup, you can't be someone you know you can't be!"

"Thanks. That's reassuring." Hiccup said sarcastically "Really helping me out there Astrid."

Ignoring him, she continued "You can't be like him, but you can be better than him."

"How?" Hiccup asked "I try to do one thing and it falls apart! Matt's experience at Outcast Island, me getting captured, you guys getting captured, the list goes on!" Looking at Astrid, he then added "That's only of recent! Don't even get me started on events before!"

"You made a mistake. Who doesn't?" Astrid pointed out "Look at how many of your plans worked!"

"But my dad didn't make any mistakes when it came to being chief!" Hiccup rebutted.

"Even when he grounded all dragons?" Astrid asked, raising an eyebrow "Or when he banished them to Dragon Island after Mildew framed them?"

Seeing her point, Hiccup then said "I guess I'm still getting used to being chief. I feel so overwhelmed sometimes."

"I betting that's why Matt wants to help you." Astrid said with a smile, resting against Hiccup's arm "He wants to help make your life that much easier."

"I'm grateful for that…" Hiccup said softly, resting his head against Astrid's "He just needs some more exposure to it I guess."

"Just like you…" Astrid said softly, closing her eyes.

Smiling, Hiccup leaned down and kissed Astrid's forehead. "I love you Astrid. Thanks."

"I love you too Hiccup." Astrid said with a smile, her eyes still closed "And you're welcome."

"Always the humble one." Hiccup said, laughing lightly and leaning back on Toothless.

Sleep didn't take long for the two, as they fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

><p>Matt suddenly was shook awake. Trying to see through his adjusting eyes, he was surprised to see Hiccup staring at him. "Hiccup? What's go-" he began to say. Though the sun wasn't up, the skyline started to have a light blue glow to it, hinting that dawn was fast approaching.<p>

"Shh!" Hiccup said, putting his finger over his lips to tell Matt to be quiet "Savage's men are coming! We need to move now!"

Matt instinctively stood up, waking Heather in the process. Seeing her confused face, he whispered "Be quiet! We're having to leave right now!"

Hearing how urgent his voice was, Heather stood up and looked around "Where's Snatch?" she asked.

"Don't know!" Matt whispered back, getting Wasatch up "But we don't have time to look for him right now!"

Before Heather could say anything, she saw the light of a torch illuminate the area a little bit away from them. Running to Matt, she quickly jumped on the neck of Wasatch. Matt also sat on Wasatch, since riding in his bindings would make it harder for Heather to hold on.

Hiccup and Toothless led the group into the pitch black night, with Astrid and Stormfly, and Matt with Heather on Wasatch. Running into the night, they heard the dreaded words they were trying to avoid. "There they are! After 'em boys!"

Matt heard some Bolas crash into a rock next to them. Leaning right, Matt guided Wasatch behind some rocks to take cover.

Looking at where Astrid and Hiccup were, both Matt and Heather watched in horror as some Bolas tripped up Stormfly's legs, causing her to trip and fall.

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted, turning to go help her.

Astrid was already off Stormfly and cutting the ropes with her axe. Helping Stormfly up, she glanced at the approaching slavers. Suddenly a black fog surrounded her, cutting off all vision she had. Unsure of what to do, she felt herself grabbed and pulled away from the black mist. Turning to see who grabbed her, she was relieved to see that it was Hiccup who pulled her out of the fog. She also saw Stormfly being guided by Heather.

Following Hiccup, she saw that Matt, Wasatch, and Toothless were hiding behind a rock; ready to receive the rest of the group.

"Snatch really knows his timing!" Astrid whispered out of relief, kneeling down next to Heather.

Hiccup quickly put his finger to his lips, silencing any conversation. Peering around the corner, he saw the black cloud head to a different direction than where everyone else was at. "Thank you Snatch…" he whispered when he saw the group of slavers chase after the fog.

Seeing that they were in the clear, Hiccup turned to everyone and said "Probably would have ended differently if Snatch hadn't been with us."

Heather elbowed Matt in the stomach "Told you I needed to stay."

Matt just shook his head, saying "Alright, alright, I was wrong." Looking at Hiccup, he then asked "So…what do we do now?"

"We move." Hiccup said, sitting on Toothless "Once the slavers realize that Snatch was leading them away, they'll be coming back here."

Jumping on Wasatch, Matt said "Lead the way then, we'll be right behind you."

Nodding, Hiccup turned to Astrid and asked "Are you ok Astrid?"

"I'm fine, so is Stormfly." Astrid said with a smile, climbing on her dragon once again.

Nodding, Hiccup began to head the opposite way that Snatch went.

Matt helped Heather on Wasatch and began to follow both Astrid and Hiccup. Turning to Heather, he asked "Are you ok Heather?"

"I'm fine Matt." Heather replied "Just a little worried about Snatch."

"He'll be fine!" Matt said reassuring her "He can slip away at any time. He always has."

Smiling, Heather then whispered into his ear "So far…no regrets."

Smiling at what she said, he added "Good…I'm glad to hear that. Makes me feel better having you here with me."

The group kept on riding, clear until it was late morning. Hiccup then said out loud "Alright we'll rest here for a minute. See if Snatch catches up to us."

Heather slid off of Wasatch as did Matt. Almost instantly the Skrill stood on its two legs and stretched his wings.

"Probably wants to go fly." Matt said, scratching Wasatch's side "Probably has a lot of energy to burn now."

"So does Stormfly." Astrid added, seeing her dragon act in a similar manner as Wasatch.

"Keep them on the ground." Hiccup said "I don't want us to be spotted." Walking up to Matt, Hiccup then quietly said "So…are you still mad about what I said yesterday?"

"No." Matt replied simply "And I wasn't really mad at that, but when you let Astrid and Heather stay."

Before Hiccup could say anything, Matt raised his hand and added "But! I was wrong. I was just trying so hard to protect them that I was trying to shelter them. That was a mistake on my part, and I admit that." Looking down from Hiccup, he then asked "If it's still alright with you, I'd still like to help you with your chiefing duties."

Hiccup smiled and grabbed Matt's shoulder, saying "Matt, I made mistakes too. More recently with you."

Matt looked up with a surprised look on his face, not sure what Hiccup was meaning.

"When I sent you to Outcast Island, I was sure that you would see the change in not only Alvin, but all the Outcasts. I thought that would help you move on and stop holding a grudge against Alvin." Looking at Matt in the eyes, he added "I was wrong. I didn't realize that your problem is a little more than just a cut leg and a bad history with Alvin. It's something you live with every day."

"Astrid told you everything then huh?" Matt said with a small smile on his face.

"And then some." Hiccup replied with a smile of his own "Matt, I would love to have you help me. If you're still willing to work with a guy who's going to make a few more mistakes."

"I guess we'll have to live and learn from them togehter!" Matt said with a lot broader of a smile.

"Thanks Matt…" Hiccup said softly.

Smiling, Matt then said "So…I do have one issue I need to bring up."

Shocked, Hiccup asked "What? What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure if anything is wrong" He said in a serious tone. Turning to the storm clouds that still raged in the distance, he said "I have no idea with what's going on with those clouds. It's not Wasatch causing them, because well, he's here with us. And I've been watching them since we've been here, they haven't moved at all! They aren't normal."

"So…what are you suggesting?" Astrid asked, walking up to them. Heather also stood by Matt at this point.

Shrugging, Matt suggested "Check them out. Figure out what's going on with them."

"I think we have more pressing issues right now." Hiccup said "Like trying to get off this island."

Nodding, Matt said "I know, but they still bug me." Looking at the storm clouds, he added "Maybe it's just me being curious, but I really want to check them out."

"Before we do anything like that, or keep on moving, can we please try and find Snatch?" Heather cut in, stepping in the middle of the group "I just want to make sure he's ok."

Hiccup looked at Heather, and then back at the direction from where they came from. Finally, he said "It might throw them off if we headed in the direction Snatch went to."

Matt then added "If we don't go directly the same way we came from at least."

"Of course. I'm not going to back track the exact same way we came from, but if we go in a roundabout way, we'll probably find Snatch and lose any one tracking us."

"I'm all for it!" Astrid said with a smile. Grabbing Heather's arm, she said "Don't worry, Snatch is going to be fine!"

Smiling, Heather nodded and began to walk towards Wasatch. Matt followed and climbed on with her.

"Alright, same rules." Hiccup said after setting himself on Toothless "No flying unless you absolutely have to. I don't want to be spotted if we can avoid it."

"Got it." Matt said, unclipping his helmet from his saddle. Sliding it on, he turned to face Heather. "Been awhile since I put this on, even if I don't really need it."

Smiling, Heather shook her head and said "Let's just go."

* * *

><p>Cresting over a hill, they arrived at a small river. Matt stared at it for a second, looking familiar for some reason. Heather too stared at the river.<p>

"Is this where we…" Heather began to say.

"I think so." Matt answered. Looking upstream he said "I'm willing to bet we can find the old arena that Dagur built."

"What's up guys?" Astrid asked, walking Stormfly next to Wasatch.

"I think…we've been here before." Matt said, turning to Astrid "This is where Dagur took us to train Death Killer." Looking upstream, Matt guided Wasatch to walk over another hill. Cresting it, he said "Well, we are a lot closer to the arena than I thought."

Looking over Matt's shoulder, Heather saw the remains of the temporary arena. The walls were all collapsed as well as half the arena was filled up with mud. Some of the logs that were used as walls had fallen on top of each other, causing a chaotic looking structure to form in the middle of the arena. The netting used as the roof was strewn all around the arena. Stepping off of Wasatch, Matt and Heather walked up to the arena.

"Wow…didn't really last that long did it?" Astrid said, observing the ruined arena.

"It was built with that in mind." Matt replied, pulling down a net that was hanging loosely from a log "It was actually pretty solid."

Suddenly Heather let out a small cry, making everyone run towards her. Kneeling at the ground, she was cradling something. Moving around her, Matt gasped at what he saw.

In her arms was Snatch. Eyes closed, the Smokebreath lay in her arms motionless.

"Snatch!" She cried "Wake up please!"

Kneeling next to her, Matt saw a crossbow bolt sticking out of the dragon's side. Looking up at Heather, he quickly grabbed her and pulled her into him.

Sobbing, she asked "Why? Why would they hurt him?"

Matt couldn't say anything. Holding her tight, he looked up at Hiccup and Astrid and mouthed "He's gone. Killed." He then returned his attention to Heather who was still crying. Trying to comfort her, he then said "He's the reason why we were able to escape. Even to get away this morning!"

Heather didn't say anything, but kept on holding onto Snatch. Letting her head fall onto Matt's shoulder, she sobbed into it.

"I'm so sorry Heather…" Matt said, tears starting to form in his eyes "I don't even know what to say…"

Looking up at Matt's eyes, she whispered hoarsely "I guess this is why you wanted me to stay…I think I understand why you didn't want me to come…"

Matt's heart was wrenched when she said that. Now sobbing uncontrollably, Matt squeezed her, wishing he could do something to make her feel better.

Wasatch then walked around the two mourners and sniffed Snatch that lay in Heather's arms. Realizing what had happened to him, the Skrill let out a loud roar, obviously angry at what happened to his friend.

Matt and Heather stared at the angry dragon. Then a thought came to Matt; one that made him sweat suddenly. "If they killed Snatch…they knew we'd come looking for him!" he thought to himself. Turning around, he saw Astrid making Stormfly dig a small hole with Hiccup and Toothless watching. Standing up, he quickly activated his brace and ran up the hill he came down on. Everyone stopped and stared at him, not sure of what he was doing or why he was running up the hill.

Finally reaching the top, Matt saw exactly what he thought. The slavers were sneakily crawling up the hill and were almost at the peak!

"Everyone run!" Matt shouted, spinning around and running back down the hill.

Wasatch focused on top of the hill, ready to fire at anyone that would come over it.

Heather checked her grip on Snatch and began to run away from where Matt was coming from. Both Hiccup and Astrid jumped on their dragons and turned to run as well. As Matt was getting closer to Wasatch, he saw multiple Slavers emerge from the wrecked arena. "Wasatch lookout!" Matt shouted, drawing his sword.

Almost as soon as Matt had said that, one of the slavers threw one of the heavy nets on Wasatch. Wasatch immediately began to radiate with lightning, trying to fight off the surprise attackers. Unable to really move, Wasatch just laid there, trying to arc his lightning to hit the attackers who were distancing themselves from him.

Extending his blade and letting sparks run down it, Matt charged a Slaver who had his axe raised. Acting like he was going right, Matt then planted his good leg and launched himself left of the Slaver. Swinging the axe at where Matt was, the Slaver exposed himself; to which Matt quickly ran his sword through. Pulling out the sword, Matt saw another Slaver charging him with a sword. Back pedaling away, Matt countered the attack. Sending a jolt of electricity through his attacker's sword, Matt quickly slashed his chest. Dropping the Slaver, Matt saw yet another slaver running at him; this time with a shield.

Ready to fight his new attacker, Matt saw Stormfly run up behind him. Astrid, who had run off of Stormfly, then appeared above the Slaver with her axe raised over her head. Matt quickly closed his eyes as the axe made contact with the Viking.

"You're getting a lot better fighting!" Astrid said with a smile. Then in a serious tone added "Hurry and help Wasatch! I'll try to protect you!"

"Got it!" Matt yelled, running to where Wasatch lay. Immediately, the Skrill stopped radiating lightning and let Matt get close to him. Matt began to hack at the thick ropes that made the net, swearing every time it failed to cut through.

Astrid was busy countering a Slaver's hammer. Using the handle of her axe, she quickly brought it across the face of her attacker. Reeling back in pain, the Slaver kicked at Astrid's legs; causing her to fall to the ground. Landing hard, she looked up to see the Slaver raise his hammer only to drop it as a flurry of spikes hit him. Stormfly stood over Astrid, protecting her as she stood up. "Thanks Stormfly!" she huffed, getting a small breather. Seeing another Slaver charge Stormfly with an axe raised. Putting herself between the attacker and Stormfly, Astrid lowered her shoulders and rammed into the Slaver. Having her balance thrown off from the hit, Astrid stumbled away. Looking up at the Slaver, she was shocked to see him already swinging his axe at her. Back pedaling away as fast as she could, she felt her arm get hit with the force of the axe. Stumbling back, she felt her arm feel warm. Looking down at it, she saw it was covered in blood. Stormfly then fired a fire bolt at the Slaver, blowing him away from Astrid. In pain, Astrid then pulled herself onto Stormfly with her good arm. "Up Stormfly!" She shouted, trying to subdue the pain in her left arm. Feeling herself launch into the air, she shouted "Matt, I can't fight anymore!"

"Don't worry! Just get out of here!" Matt shouted back, still hacking at the net.

Hiccup was helping Heather get on Toothless. Still not letting go of Snatch, she quickly seated herself on Toothless. Looking at Matt who was still struggling to cut the net, she shouted "Matt! Lookout!"

Matt looked up in time to see the rest of the Slavers coming over the hill. Knowing that freeing Wasatch was out of the question, Matt stood in a defensive position, ready to receive the attackers. Suddenly a plasma blast blew into the crowd. Matt quickly looked back to see Toothless ready to fire another one. Smiling, Matt turned to face the other Slavers just in time to take a hammer to the face. A Slaver had run through the fire and charged Matt while he was distracted.

The force of the hit sent him spinning in the air, to which he landed hard on his back. Feeling himself slowly slip into darkness, Matt tried to get up to crawl away. Feeling himself pulled up, he saw the face of his attacker laughing. Having no energy left to fight back, he then felt his helmet get yanked off and thrown away. Seeing it land on the ground, he saw that it was completely caved in from the blow he took. Staring blankly at it, he finally slipped into the darkness from the blow he took.

Astrid was about to put Stormfly into a dive to get Matt. Just as she was about to do so, the Slaver held a knife to Matt's throat. "Don't even think about it!" he shouted. Holding up Matt by the armor, he began to back away. A few others grabbed the net that Wasatch was in and dragged him along. Keeping Matt by the Skrill to keep him from radiating with lightning, the Slaver said to the rest of his men "Go get them boys!"

Astrid immediately made Stormfly dodge some Bolas thrown at her. Flying away from the ruined arena, she saw Hiccup and Toothless running away as well. Heather was screaming at Hiccup, trying to get him to turn back to get Matt. "We can't leave them! Hiccup! Please don't leave Matt!"

"I'm sorry Heather!" Hiccup shouted back at her "But we can't take them all! Especially with them holding Matt prisoner. Let's fall back, get a plan and then we'll get Matt and Wasatch back."

Heather just sobbed. In less than a few hours, she lost Snatch and now potentially Matt and Wasatch.


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter 6! Sorry it took me a bit to update; hit a wall with writing and it's finals next week in school. Hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter Six**

"Gaah!" Astrid cried out, flinching in pain.

Heather was busy trying to stitch the slash on Astrid's arm, using supplies she had in a small pack she carried. "I know it hurts, but try to hold still!" she said in a tired, worn out voice.

Astrid glanced down at the wound. It was still bleeding, but a lot less than it was when she was first cut. "Sorry Heather, I'm trying."

"I know you are, but it's especially important now. We need to close this up before it gets infected." Heather said, focusing on the small needle.

Looking away from what Heather was doing, Astrid saw Hiccup staring at a shrewdly drawn map in the dirt. His face buried in his hands, she could tell that he was beating himself up. It was an emotional evening for everyone. Having buried Snatch, Heather was about to fall apart; Hiccup couldn't think of a plan to save Matt; and Astrid wasn't going to be able to fight with her arm cut up.

"There…all done." Heather said, putting a weak smile on. She then reached in her pack and grabbed her last cloth. Soaking it in the stream that was next to their camp, she then wrapped the newly stitched slash. Making sure it was snug, she said "Let me see your hood."

Astrid complied by reaching for the fur hood with her good arm; taking it off of her armor that it was attached to, she then handed it to Heather.

Tying two ends together, Heather then slipped it over Astrid's head. Gently lifting her arm, she then set it in the hood. Looking at the shrewdly crafted sling, she said "That should do it. Try to move your arm as little as possible, since I don't want that stitching to come undone."

Looking at Heather's handiwork, Astrid whispered "Thank you Heather."

Only nodding, Heather returned her attention to what was left in her small pack. Organizing her supplies, she felt Astrid's hand on her shoulder. "How are you holding up?" she asked, trying to make eye contact.

"I'm a mess." Heather replied simply. Looking at the freshly dug grave for Snatch, she added "I lost my dragon, who saved our lives a few times; now we can't even come up with a plan to save Matt and Wasatch." Looking into Astrid's eyes, she asked "Are we going to lose them too?"

Astrid pulled her into a hug, trying to think of something to comfort her with. After a few seconds, she then thought of something. "Remember when we were flying to try and find Hiccup? When I was worried that I might not see him again?"

Heather nodded, not saying anything.

"You remember what he said right? When he said things usually work out?" Astrid asked again.

"Yeah, but that was when we were separated. We know where he is, we just don't know what to do!" Heather said angrily "We don't need to feel that we can get him! We need to know we can get him back!"

Raising her hand to stop Heather from her tirade, Astrid said "Let me finish. I could have chosen not to believe Matt and be miserable. I'm glad I did listen to him because I'd have to admit I was wrong!" Grabbing Heather's hand she continued "His words are more applicable now than before. Yes, it's better to be able to know what to do or what's going on; but I didn't know we'd find Hiccup that night! If we can keep that feeling, that hope, we'll be able to come up with a plan."

Heather looked down after hearing Astrid out. She knew she was right, but was having a hard time accepting that fact. Nodding slowly, she whispered hoarsely "Well…let's get busy trying to get a plan then."

"If you have any idea; even crazy ones! I'll gladly welcome them." Hiccup said, looking up from the map in the dirt. His eyes were bloodshot from stress and anxiety. Being exhausted didn't help him either.

"What do you mean?" Astrid said with concern in her voice "Can't think of anything?"

"Nothing that involves either exposing where we're at, attacking their camp directly, or getting captured again." Hiccup said sarcastically while throwing himself onto his back. Looking up lightning filled clouds, he added "It's almost impossible to get a plan with only one dragon that can fly."

Toothless quickly growled at Hiccup, glaring at him.

"Sorry bud. I didn't mean it in that way." Hiccup looking at his dragon "We're just not as helpful as we could be with you grounded."

"What if we wait for Eret and the others to come?" Heather asked, taking a seat by Hiccup "Not only would we have more people, but we could get Toothless a new tail!"

"But the problem is that Matt's still a prisoner." Hiccup countered, sitting up from where he was laying "I figured that if we show ourselves to Savage, he'll tell us to surrender or he'll kill him."

Heather looked away and stared into the fire. This was hopeless. There seemed to be no way to get an edge on Savage.

"Well…we do have one option" Astrid began to say, but was cut off by Hiccup.

"Astrid! I don't know what to do! The best plan that I have is to send you and Stormfly to try and free Wasatch! Even then that's a gamble!" Hiccup replied angrily

"My idea has nothing to do with dragons!" Astrid shouted, flaring up in anger "How about you take some of your own advice for Matt and let us work with you! Let us plan with you!"

Hiccup shut up after that. Realizing that his anxiety was affecting everyone, he quickly began to apologize. "Sorry Astrid…I'm just stressed knowing Matt's over there with Savage. I don't know what to do."

"That's why I said let us help!" Astrid said, cooling down a little bit. Making sure she had both his and Heather's attention, she continued to say "Heather wouldn't know the details, but remember when Matt and I freed you from Dagur when he had all of you guys in the arena?"

Nodding, Hiccup replied "Of course."

"Do you remember how we got in there the first place?" Astrid said with a smile slowly forming on her face.

Hiccup thought for a second, and then looked at Astrid in horror. "No! Absolutely not!" he said loudly.

"What? Don't do what?" Heather asked, completely confused at what they were talking about.

"Why not Hiccup?" Astrid said, driving her point further "We don't need someone to be captured, we can just send two people in! Even one person!"

"Dressed in what? Mud and sticks?" Hiccup countered.

"Will someone PLEASE explain to me what you're talking about?" Heather said, interrupting the two "What do you mean we don't have to have someone be captured!?

Looking at Heather, Hiccup said "When Astrid went to get Matt from his world; the entire dragon academy, as well as Berk, was captured by Dagur."

"Yeah, I remember you told me that." Heather said nodding in agreement.

"What we didn't tell you was how they both saved us." Hiccup said, glaring at Astrid.

"Matt dressed as a Berserker and I acted like I was captured by him." Astrid said with a smile "He was able to get right next to Dagur and take him out while I freed the dragons."

"So you're suggesting to go into Savage's camp, dressed like Slavers, and free Matt?" Heather asked, putting the context of the story to what Astrid's plan was.

"Just like that!" Astrid said, proud of her plan.

"So…since this plan is flawless" Hiccup said sarcastically "Where are we going to get some of the Slaver's outfits?"

"Back at the ruined arena." Astrid quickly replied "Matt killed at least one, not to mention what Stormfly and I did; don't forget Toothless' plasma blast." Smiling broader now, she said "There has to be at least one outfit we can use."

"But they might be waiting for us!" Hiccup argued "Or at least heading this way."

"Got any other ideas?" Astrid shot back "As far as I can tell, it's the best we got."

Hiccup just stared at her, unsure of how to respond to the attack. Shaking his head, he said "Fine…we'll go back to the arena. Once one of us is disguised, I'll give the final say if it's still a good idea."

Smiling, Astrid struggled to get up with her arm still in a sling. Seeing Hiccup's hand extended, she took it and felt herself hoisted up.

"One thing for sure, you're not going to be the infiltrator." Hiccup said, staring at Astrid's arm.

"Yeah, I'll agree with you on that one." Astrid said, also looking down at her arm "I can't believe they got me."

Heather then jumped in, saying "It was bound to happen. I mean how many fights have you gotten in and came out without a scratch?"

"Not as much as you're probably thinking." Astrid said with a small smile.

The old attitude of the group was returning. With an actual plan in motion, it seemed to buoy everyone into high spirits. Climbing on Stormfly, behind Astrid, she turned to Snatch's grave and whispered "Thank you Snatch…I wish we could take you home with us…"

Hiccup overheard her. Walking Toothless next to Stormfly, he said "We'll build a memorial for him when we get home. He deserves that much for what he did to help us."

Feeling tears build up in her eyes, Heather quickly wiped them away. "Thank you Hiccup. I just can't wait until we're done with this place." Looking around the island, she added "I don't have the greatest history when it comes to this island."

Nodding his head, Hiccup then let Toothless lead into the falling night, being swallowed up in the darkness. Heather felt Astrid guide Stormfly to follow. Looking at the lightning filled sky, Heather whispered "Hang on Matt…we're coming."

* * *

><p>Hiccup silently got off of Toothless, to which both Astrid and Heather did as well. "Stay here boy." Hiccup whispered, motioning to Toothless to not follow him. Crawling up the hill, Hiccup lay at the top, observing the wrecked arena. With lightning lighting up the area enough to see that no one was there, Hiccup whispered "Follow me. Keep your distance just in case they laid any traps."<p>

Nodding, Heather followed Hiccup with Astrid behind her. Letting him ahead by 10 feet, she scanned the area with what lighting she could use. With the mixture of the lightning and darkness, the arena was a lot creepier than earlier that day. Looking around, she felt her feet kick something. Freezing, thinking it was trap, Heather looked down to see a small black object. Picking it up, she gasped when she recognized what it was. It was Matt's sword! "Look at what I found!" Heather whispered excitedly, turning to face Astrid.

Looking at the handle, Astrid said "That'll be handy for whoever goes in to get Matt!" Looking down at the ground, Astrid saw something that caught her eye. Kneeling down, she picked up the remains of Matt's helmet. With the left side completely smashed, she just shook her head and said "If he wasn't wearing his helmet…that could have been the last time we saw him alive."

Heather didn't say anything. She didn't want to think about what may have happened.

Realizing what she just said, Astrid quickly added "I'm sure he's fine Heather."

"All clear." Hiccup said, walking up to the two girls "And I've been thinking about who we should send."

"Oh, so we are going with the plan then?" Astrid said with a smile, placing her good hand on her hip. Acting smug, she asked "So who are you thinking of sending? You?"

Shaking his head, Hiccup replied "No…Heather."

"Why me!?' Heather said in shock. Seeing the strange looks from both Hiccup and Astrid, she quickly collected herself and stated "I have no problem doing it, I would love to help Matt! But why do you want me to do it?"

"Because of this." Hiccup said pointing to his prosthetic leg "I'll be spotted faster than anyone here; and we already ruled out Astrid."

Nodding, she then said "Just tell me what to do then."

"Well…we need to find one of the Slavers and get his gear for you." Hiccup said looking around.

"We can help with that!" A voice shouted from on top of a hill.

All three spun around to see multiple torches being lit on top of the hill opposite of where they came. Astrid then yelled at Hiccup "I thought you said it was all clear!"

Ignoring Astrid, Hiccup shouted "Let's get out of here! Run!" At that, he booked it up hill to where Toothless was waiting for him.

The Slavers then started to run down the hill, giving chase to them. "Head them off! Don't let the get into the opening! Push them into the river if you have to!" the voice shouted again.

Astrid saw that they were going to overrun. Whistling, she called Stormfly over. Seeing her dragon fly over her, she reached up and grabbed her saddle with her good hand. Feeling herself lifted into the air, she struggled to pull herself up. Feeling herself slip, she instinctively reached up with her other arm. Gripping the saddle, she finally hefted herself onto the saddle. Pain was running up and down her arm. Looking down, she saw Hiccup was jumping on Toothless, who fired a plasma blast at the pursuing Slavers.

"Get out of here Astrid!" Hiccup shouted, letting Toothless back away from the approaching Slavers "We'll meet up the river!"

Turning Stormfly towards the lightning filled night sky, she quickly disappeared.

Heather was running up the hill with Hiccup, only to be turned away when she saw three slavers waiting for her on top. Running back to the arena, Heather saw that she was surrounded on all sides.

"Heather!" Hiccup shouted, trying to make way to her; only to be thwarted by the Slavers. Knowing that he couldn't her, he shouted "Get to the river and hide! We'll find you later!" With that, he turned Toothless and let him run away.

Looking behind her, Heather sprinted towards the river. Jumping in, she felt herself dragged by the cold current. Fighting to keep her head above water, she swam with all her might to the other bank. She could feel her leg hit rocks on the bottom, throwing her balance off. Feeling her head be pulled under, she was all turned around in the raging torrent. "No! No! No!" She thought to herself, fighting the current. Trying to focus, Heather used a burst of strength and swam to where she thought she was the surface. Her head breaking through the water, she took in a few gulps of water before she could get a breath of air. Looking down river, she saw a log sticking out into the water. Reaching for it, she used what strength she had left and grabbed the log. With the water pushing her, she fought to keep her grip. Slowly pulling herself up and out of the water. Heather finally felt her feet land on solid ground. Breathing a sigh of relief, as well as coughing up the water that she swallowed, she crawled up the shore.

Rolling onto her back, she just stared at the lightning filled sky. Closing her eyes for a second, she whispered "I'm sorry Matt…we lost…" Gripping his sword that she kept, she was about to fall asleep due to the fatigue and knowing that their plan failed when she heard some voices.

"There she is!" a Slaver's voice shouted.

Sitting up quickly, she turned to see two Slavers running at her. Scrambling to get up, she felt her legs get tripped up by some bolas. Trying to kick the ropes off, she stared helplessly at the two slavers who were smiling evilly. Expecting them to grab her, she saw them instead suddenly back away from her with terrified looks on their faces.

"Go! Run!" One of them shouted, diving towards the river. The second one turned to follow as well, only to be hit in the back with a lightning bolt.

Gasping when she saw the lightning bolt, Heather naturally shouted "Wasatch!" Turning around with a large smile, she also recoiled back in horror. Standing behind her was a wild Skrill, eyeing her as if to target her next.

* * *

><p>Matt's world was slowly forming around him. Letting his eyes regain sight, he tenderly looked around him. Everything appeared as silhouettes at first, unable to see details. Groaning, he muttered to himself "You know Matt, getting knocked out is getting old really fast…" Feeling pain on his face, Matt tried rest his hand on it. Feeling his arm being restrained by something above him, he looked up from where he was sitting to see his hand's shackled above him. Tugging at the chains, Matt groaned as his face felt like a swollen watermelon. His brace was still activated, causing it to still be stiff and unable to let him rest his leg.<p>

With his eyesight clearing up, Matt looked to the left of him. He could see Wasatch hanging next to him in a net, eyeing him. Everything came back to him. He remembered Wasatch in the net that he was trying to cut, and then he felt his world get rocked by a hammer. Shaking his head, Matt looked down at the ground. If he hadn't been wearing his helmet, then he probably would have been killed right there. Looking back at his dragon, he weakly said "Wasatch…I'm sorry. I wish I was able to get you out…"

Wasatch just growled, knowing that trying to move was hopeless.

Finally feeling awake, Matt looked around where he was at. Chained in the center of the camp, Matt saw multiple fires with Slavers sitting around them. The night sky was pitch black, only lit up by the distant lightning. Looking up at the chains that held his arms above him, Matt saw that the pole was shrewdly placed there in order to hold Wasatch and him.

"Well…it seems that you're finally awake." Savage's voice sounded to his right.

Turning to where he heard the voice, Matt just stared at Savage as he walked up to him.

Staring at Matt, Savage punched him in the stomach, causing him to couple over in pain. Watching Matt lean forward against the chains, Savage continued to say "So…As much of a pain you've been to me, I have a special treat in store for you." Savage said smiling evilly.

"Great." Matt said sarcastically, catching his breath and trying to sit up straight "I have a feeling it's not going to be as great as you're making it sound."

"Oh it is." Savage said laughing "I have a…customer that depends on getting some able-bodied workers. He's actually quite particular about who he chooses. Seeing how much energy you have to run and create mayhem, I think you'll be great for him!"

"Awesome." Matt said flatly, rolling his eyes "Mind telling me his name?"

"Actually I do mind." Savage said, still smiling at Matt "He's asked me to keep his name secret until he comes to pick up his cargo."

Matt flared up with anger after being referred to as 'cargo'. Sitting up straighter, Matt glared at Savage, saying ""Sounds like a real charmer to work for."

"More than you know." Savage grinned evilly "Just wait until morning or tomorrow at the latest. That's when he's supposed be coming." Laughing, Savage started to walk away from Matt, saying loudly "I guess you will know what it's like working for him!"

Matt stared at Savage in horror as he walked away. Knowing Hiccup, Astrid, and Heather were going to have a hard enough time getting him, they now had a time limit. Looking up at the lightning filled sky, and then to Wasatch who was growling as Savage walked away; Matt whispered quietly "Don't worry boy…We'll be out of here soon enough…I hope." Then a thought hit him. "What about Wasatch? What would happen to him?" he whispered quietly, staring at his dragon. Resting his head against the pole that he was chained to, Matt grimly waited for the sun to rise; watching for either his friends, or his new captor.

* * *

><p>Hiccup arrived at a small pool of water that was next to the river. Having rode Toothless for about a half hour, Hiccup turned around to see if he was still being followed. Easily outrunning the Slavers, Hiccup could only guess that they were still pursuing them.<p>

"Oh good your safe!" Astrid's voice called out above him.

Looking up towards where the voice came from, Hiccup let relief flood his body as he saw Astrid land Stormfly. Slowly letting herself down, Astrid made way to Hiccup. "Did you see where Heather went?"

Looking down, Hiccup shook his head "I was separated from her. I couldn't do anything to help!"

Astrid looked down also. Everything fell apart; thanks to her idea. Shaking her head, she muttered "Should have never come up with that plan…I walked us right into their hands. I should have stayed and helped Heather!"

"It's not your fault!" Hiccup said quickly, resting his hand on Astrid's shoulder "It's mine! I said it was clear let them get the jump on us…"

"It is mine though" Astrid said angrily "I was the reason that we even went there to be ambushed and now Heather's probably captured!"

Looking at her, Hiccup then glanced down at her arm, still resting in the sling. "Astrid!" Hiccup gasped, staring at her arm "What happened!? I thought Heather closed your cut!"

Looking down at where Heather wrapped her slashed arm and saw blood running down and pooling a little but in the sling. "It opened back up when we were escaping. I had to use it to pull myself onto my saddle."

"We need to find Heather now!" Hiccup said in a panic.

"Hiccup! Calm down!" Astrid said "I'm fine for now! What we need to do is to do is calm down and come up with a plan! We don't want to walk into another trap like the last two times!"

Ignoring her, Hiccup just looked frantically for anything he could use to help Astrid with.

"Hiccup! Please!" Astrid said, grabbing his arm "I'll be fine! Everything will be ok if we just calm down."

"Gaarrgggh!" Hiccup said angrily, pulling away from Astrid "Don't you see Astrid!? We lost! We can't get Matt back, we don't know where Heather is, and we're being hunted down!" Letting the comment sink in, he quickly sat down on the ground, sobbing. "I don't know what to do Astrid."

Astrid stared at Hiccup. Not sure of what to say, she also took a seat next to him.

"Look at me…" Hiccup said weakly "Chief of Berk, the slayer of the Red Death, the Night Fury rider, and I'm falling apart. I can't even keep my head straight and now we lost Matt and Wasatch; Heather's missing and Snatch was killed…I'm really the chief that Berk needs huh?"

"Hiccup…" Astrid said quietly "Losing Matt wasn't your fault. Neither was Snatch or Heather." Resting her hand on his leg, she added "What you choose to do now will be your fault. For the good or for the bad. If you want to give up, then their deaths and capture are on you."

"Thanks Astrid." Hiccup replied angrily "That really helps me." Looking up at the lightning, Hiccup said "I never said I was going to give up. I just don't know what to do! I'm not my dad who had a plan for everything."

"That's because Stoick was Stoick!" Astrid said, looking gently at Hiccup "You're trying so hard to be like him that you're forgetting yourself…" A thought came to her, to which she said "Do you want to know something? Something that I feel guilty admitting."

Hiccup looked at her curiously, saying "What?"

"I truly believed that I'd never see you again when we came to look for you." Astrid said, looking away from Hiccup "Matt helped me snap out of it thankfully, but I sincerely believed that."

"Why?" Hiccup asked.

Weakly smiling, she answered "I forgot about who you were. Matt reminded me of that you're Hiccup Haddock! Not Stoick, not Eret, not anyone else. You are you and the village supports you as chief because of that." Grabbing Hiccup's hand with her good one, Astrid added "I'm going to say this again, in case that stubborn head of yours tells you otherwise. We need a Hiccup Haddock to help us. Matt's depending on a Hiccup to help him and maybe even Heather too!"

"Thanks for the added pressure…" Hiccup said, rolling his eyes. Smiling for the first time in a long time, he then said "Thanks Astrid…"

Smiling, Astrid kissed him on the cheek.

Toothless then stuck his head at Hiccup's as if to reassure him. Petting his dragon's head, he then said "I still don't know what to do, but whatever it is, we're going to need your arm re-wrapped and find Heather."

"Well…I can't imagine her getting into too much trouble. If she hasn't been captured that is." Astrid said, trying to lighten the mood.

"You know…you need to learn from Matt when it comes to joking about serious things." Hiccup said shaking his head. Helping Astrid stand up, he said "Haven't you learned anything from him with all the time you spend teaching him how to fight?"

Astrid then smacked Hiccup in the stomach with her good hand, saying "Careful! Even though my arm is cut, I only need one to kick your butt."

Hiccup laughed lightly, partly because it was the easiest way for him to exhale after being punched, but also glad that Astrid never changed with all they went through. "I'll keep that in mind!" he said, trying to quell the pain from the punch. Looking up into the night sky, he then said "Well, let's go find Heather."

* * *

><p>Heather rolled away as the Skrill launched a small lightning bolt at her. Trying to kick off the bolas that were still tangled around her feet, she stared helplessly as the Skrill charged up again to fire. Suddenly, another pair of bolas flew and hit the Skrill.<p>

Pinning its wing to its body, the Skrill turned away from Heather. Four Slavers then emerged, all wielding shields and axes. The Skrill fired a lightning bolt at the group, who instantly split up. Another pair of bolas flew, striking the head of the Skrill. With the ropes wrapping around the mouth, the Skrill recoiled back trying to shake off the ropes.

Heather stared at the Skrill, and then quickly began to unwrap her feet from the bolas. With the Skrill thrashing around, the Slavers were too busy to notice Heather escaping. Freeing her legs, she quickly stood up and began to run away. Sliding behind a rock, she could hear the Skrill still fighting the Slavers. Resting for a second, Heather stared at the direction where the fight was. Thinking to herself, she quickly whispered to herself "No! That thing almost killed you!" Turning to run away, she heard a shout of panic and anger come from the Slavers. Closing her eyes, letting the guilt finally convince her, she turned back and snuck back around rock to see what had happened.

With one Slaver laying on the ground with the remaining three around him, she saw the Skrill was tied down and was radiating lightning, keeping them away from getting closer. Moving along the other side of the rock, she moved quietly behind the Skrill. Still radiating lighting, Heather whispered "Come on! Let me help you!"

The Skrill must have heard her, because it glanced back at her. Stopping in fear and out of reaction, Heather drew Matt's handle and struggled to extend the blade. Finally getting the blade out, she made cutting motions at the rope.

The Skrill subsequently stopped radiating lightning, allowing Heather to get closer to it.

"Hey…the dragon stopped the lightning!" A slaver said loudly from beyond Heather's view. Furiously sawing at the rope that held the Skrill's feet, she felt the ropes give away. Smiling, she then started to work on the ropes that held the pinned wing.

"What do you think you're doing!?" A voice shouted behind her. Feeling herself grabbed, Heather was spun around and was staring at one of the Slavers. Out of reaction, she reached up with Matt's sword and stabbed at the Slaver. Seeing it come, he quickly dodged the strike and brought his fist across Heather's face. Reeling backwards, Heather accidentally held down the button on sword. As electricity shot through the blade, and as Heather landed on her back, she felt the sword hit the Skrill.

Feeling the electricity surge through it, the Skrill quickly stood up on its freed legs and head-butted the Slaver that attacked Heather. Heather, still a little shaken up by the hit, began to cut at the ropes. Feeling them loosen, the wing shot out like a compressed spring. Getting hit by the wing, Heather was once again on her back. Looking up from where she lay, she saw the Skrill radiate with lightning and strike at the Slavers with its tail. Seeing two of them drop with their one friend already on the ground, the last one ran away by jumping in the river.

After the Skrill watched the Slaver run away, it then started to try and shake off the ropes still wrapped around its mouth. After a few unsuccessful attempts, it glanced over to Heather who was still laying on the ground. Walking up to her, it growled at her, as if motioning to help it out.

Slowly, Heather lifted the blade and began to saw at the rope. Careful to not accidentally cut the Skrill, Heather eventually cut the rope. Feeling it loosen around the mouth, the Skrill shook the rope off. After a few seconds of opening and closing its mouth, as if checking if there was any pain. Glaring at Heather, it slowly walked to her. Realizing that it still probably viewed her as a threat, she began to back off. The Skrill then leaned forward and shocked her. Feeling the jolt through her body, Heather fell to one knee. It wasn't a lightning bolt like the one she saw hit the Slaver in the back. This one was like what Wasatch would do her. Staring at the Skrill, she had no idea what to do. Almost answering her thought, the Skrill motioned to the sword that was in her hand. Looking down at the sword, Heather finally realized what she did. "Oh. My. Gods…" She whispered, looking back at the Skrill in disbelief.

* * *

><p>"Where could she be!?" Hiccup asked out loud, looking behind a boulder. Both he and Astrid walked downriver and past the arena looking for Heather.<p>

"Hiccup…she might have been captured…" Astrid said weakly, checking out another boulder. Both of their dragons were close behind them, making sure that no one got the jump on their trainers again.

"Gah!" Hiccup shouted "I should have tried to get her. I never should have run away…"

"For what? To get captured with her?" Astrid countered "We had to split up!"

Hiccup just stared at Astrid, knowing that she was right. Still, it didn't bring any comfort to him. Looking at the night sky, he could see dawn starting appear. Shaking his head, he said "Well…we better get going. We might have to attack the camp head on to try and bust them out…"

"Not without me you're not." Heather's voice called out above them.

Shocked, the two looked up to see a Skrill slowly descending. Landing near them, they saw Heather slide off of it.

"Heather!?" Hiccup gasped, staring with wide eyes at the dragon "Wha- How-"

"I saved her from the Slavers…" Heather said with a wide smile "It was kind of a mutual thing actually."

"Well…send me to Valhalla to be a Valkyrie." Astrid whispered, also staring at the Skrill "You trained a Skrill too!"

"I did!" Heather said with a smile that almost seemed to be from ear to ear "And that's actually what I called her; Valkyrie."

"She's beautiful" Astrid said, walking closer to the Skrill.

"Isn't she though?" Heather said, looking at Valkyrie. She had the same color purple as Wasatch, but instead of black tiger stripes on the back, they were white; a complete opposite from him. Heather then turned towards Hiccup, saying "I have an idea on how to get Matt back…now that we have another dragon with us."

Not taking his eyes off the Skrill, he simply nodded and said "I'm all ears. I have nothing except to attack them head on."

"It's…kind of like that." Heather said with a smile. Walking to both Hiccup and Astrid, she then began to explain her idea.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Well, here's chapter 7. I thought I'd post it now since I have a final test every day for the next week. I won't have time to post this or update until after. Anyways, have a great weekend and enjoy!**

**Chapter Seven**

"Time to wake up mule!" A voice called out.

Matt instantly felt water dumped on him. Gasping for breath, Matt coughed as he tried to inhale air. Looking up, he saw two Slavers standing over him. "Thanks for the drink…been awhile since I've had some water…" Matt said sarcastically.

"Shut up and stand up." One of the Slavers said, lifting the chains that held Matt's hands above him.

Being hoisted up, Matt stood up on his feet. Relief flooded his leg, finally being able to bend it a little. With his hands now lower, Matt quickly deactivated his brace.

"What was that!?" a Slaver shouted, drawing his knife as if Matt was going to attack.

"Just deactivating my brace." Matt said angrily "Trust me, if I had anything that would have helped me escape I would have done so."

The other Slaver then sucker punched Matt in the stomach, causing Wasatch to roar angrily and struggle in the net. "I said shut up! Say another word and I'll cut your tongue out!"

Matt glared at the Slaver, ticked off with the threat and the fact that he was completely at the mercy of ruthless killers. Nodding in acknowledgement, Matt just stood there as the second Slaver with the knife, began to walk towards him.

Staring helplessly at the approaching Slaver, Matt instinctively moved his head away; as a last ditch effort to get away from the knife.

Smiling at his discomfort, the Slaver then used the knife and cut a strap on Matt's armor.

Feeling his riding gear loosen, he looked down to see another strap cut. Realizing that they were taking his gear off, Matt just stared helplessly as they continued to cut and slash away. Basically in pieces, it didn't take much effort for the Slavers to pull the armor off of him. Ripping his shirt off, one of the Slavers moaned when he saw Matt's back. "Go get Savage…He'll want to see this kid's back." He said turning to the other Slaver.

Matt watched as the Slaver jogged away. Turning to the one that was still there, he asked "Can I talk now? Or at least ask one question?"

Grunting, the Slaver said "Go ahead."

"What's the big deal with my back?" Matt asked curiously "Why does it concern Savage."

"You asked two questions." The Slaver said shortly, annoyed by Matt's curiosity "I guess you have a few more too."

Flaring up with anger, Matt then said loudly "Well, to be fair. I've been captured by a group of slavers that I never heard of, my dragon's hanging in a net next to me, I've been stripped half naked, and now I have to be inspected. Yes. I have a LOT of questions running through my head right now!"

Pulling out his knife again, the Slaver grabbed Matt's jaw and shouted "I said you could ask a question, not run your mouth like you have a right animal!" Holding the knife near Matt's lips, he whispered coldly "You're going to wish that you hadn't done that."

Wasatch was roaring, fighting the net as he watched his trainer being held by the Slaver. Matt stared into the dark eyes of the Slaver, trying to hide the fear that creeping through his body. Feeling his mouth be forced open, Matt was ironically grateful to hear Savage's voice shout: "Yaruk! I told you to strip the prisoner! Not torture him!"

The Slaver instantly let Matt go, turning towards Savage and a few other Slavers who were marching up towards them. "Just teaching this brat a lesson."

"That's not our job!" Savage said, bringing the butt end of his spear across Yaruk's face "We just collect and deliver. Because of this, you're never to touch another slave again, got it!?"

Yaruk just stared at Savage with anger in his eyes. Resting his hand on his face where Savage struck him, he just nodded and began to walk away.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Matt was then spun around by Savage to where he was facing the pole.

"Thor's hammer…" Savage muttered. Staring at Matt's back, he then asked "What happened here? This is going to lose me at least 30 gold!"

"Sorry to disappoint." Matt said again with thick sarcasm. Putting the clues together, he then said "I'm guessing that's why you have to inspect my back. To see how much money you're going to lose?"

"If I was selling you to anyone else, it wouldn't have mattered." Savage said with no emotion, rubbing his hand down Matt's back to feel the scars. Matt cringed as his hand went up and down, still unable to do anything to protect himself.

"But with this specific customer…" Savage continued, finally pulling his hand away "He only wants healthy slaves. Both in appearance and performance." Spinning Matt around again, he gently rubbed Matt's cheek and added "Your bruised face will heal, at least that won't affect the price."

Rolling his eyes, Matt just said "Thanks. Makes me feel a whole lot better." Pulling away from Savage, he added "Sounds like a classy guy if he only wants the best." Then something came to his mind. Looking at Savage in the eye, he then said "Wait a second…you don't know anything about me…"

"And?" Savage said, getting a concerned look on his face "I never needed to know about anyone I've sold."

"My leg." Matt said with a small smile growing on his face; the first since he was captured "You don't know about it do you…"

"Should I?" Savage said impatiently, trying to hurry whatever Matt was talking about.

"My leg is crippled!" Matt said with a small laugh "I have to use a brace whenever I want to run or ride with no pain!"

Glancing at the leg, Savage silently cursed. Grabbing the keys out of the pouch that he carried, he started to unlock the shackles. "Try to run, and your dragon's good as dead." Savage threatened. Almost instantly, two of the Slavers with them pointed their crossbows at the still roaring Skrill.

Feeling the shackles fall off his wrists, Matt began to rub them to bring back the blood flow. "Could have at least said please." Matt said, glaring at Savage.

Taking a few steps backwards, Savage then ordered "Start walking towards me." Then with an evil smile, added "Please."

Frowning, Matt took a step towards Savage. Not really feeling anything, Matt took a few more. Feeling the sharp pain run up and down his leg, Matt grimaced as he quickly grabbed his leg as if to stop the pain from flowing up any higher. Glaring up at Savage, he said "See!?"

Savage didn't say anything. Looking at his leg, he asked "What did you do to fix it? I saw you sprint when you sank my ship."

Matt glanced over to the ocean and for the first time noticed Savage's ship. Charred from the explosion, it was rolled over on its side and sunk in the shallow water. Smiling, Matt joked "Did I do that!?"

Savage rammed the butt end of his spear into Matt's stomach. "I wouldn't joke much more; before I let Yaruk finish what he was going to do." He said with a cold anger.

Matt coupled over in pain. Collapsing on the ground, he could hear Wasatch thrashing around in his net. Gasping, he said "You sure that's a good idea? You'll lose more money on me."

Savage ignored Matt. Looking at his men he said "Keep the boy by his pet. I don't want any more of my men fried." Savage said, staring at the raging Skrill.

Matt felt himself grabbed and pulled over by Wasatch. Dropped on the ground, he took a few deep breaths and began to stand back up.

"Now…how did you run with your leg?" Savage asked with a serious tone.

"With this." Matt said with heat in his voice. Pulling on the small lever on his lower half armor, he felt the brace stiffen his entire leg. "While this is on, I can run, jump, or ride a lot easier. It doesn't stop all the pain, but it still helps."

"Good. We'll have you keep that then." Savage breathed. Looking grateful that at least one good thing was happening, he turned to the Slavers that were next to him and said "Bind him and take him away from his dragon. I changed my mind about it. We'll let it exhaust itself and then we'll beat it into submission for Dagur. We'll get some more gold out of it at least…"

"No!" Matt shouted, feeling his arms grabbed. Trying to fight the two slavers that were holding his arms, he felt himself forced onto his knees. Struggling against the two, he could hear Wasatch roaring a thrashing around. Unable to turn around to look at his friend, he felt himself dragged away. Forced onto his chest, his arms were then pulled behind him and were being tied. "I'll kill you if you try to touch him!" he shouted, trying to keep his face out of the dirt.

"I'm sure you will." Savage replied, unfazed by the threat "Since your friends failed to get you last night."

Matt's head snapped up, as best as he could. Feeling himself pulled back up onto his knees, he just stared at Savage with a worried expression.

Laughing at Matt, Savage explained "My men told me that they were trying to get an outfit to sneak into our camp. When Hiccup and the two girls went to get one of the outfits from the arena, my men ambushed them."

Matt's face sank when he heard this, expecting to see them marched up towards him.

Seeing Matt's expression, Savage added "Don't worry, we weren't able to catch them or their dragons; but we were able to split them up!" At that, Savage turned and began to walk away "I don't think they'll be able to get you back now. Such a tragedy…"

Staring at nothing, Matt was then stood up and forced to walk towards the shore; leaving Wasatch to rage in his net.

* * *

><p>"This is bad…" Hiccup said, looking through a telescope at the camp "They just led Matt away from Wasatch and towards the shore…"<p>

All three of them were laying on top of a hill, about a half mile away. Their dragons were below them, hiding. Astrid was standing with them to keep them calm, and being unable to lie down with Hiccup and Heather because of her arm. With the sun barely peering over the ocean, they were barely visible at that distance.

"Wait…they're not going to kill him are they!?" Heather asked in a worried voice.

"I don't think so…" Hiccup said, looking up from the telescope "If Savage is a slaver, then he won't want to kill his…trade" Hiccup was careful with the word he was going to choose.

Heather just stared at the camp, unable to really see what was happening. "Did he look like he was alright?"

"He looks fine." Hiccup lied, putting the telescope away "He's probably going to be feeling a little sore from the hit he took, but he'll be fine." He lied to her so that she wouldn't worry about Matt. Having witnessed what happened to Matt, from being stripped, to being punched in the stomach multiple times, and then being inspected; Hiccup knew that Matt wasn't going to be looking all that well.

Heather's face relaxed when she heard the lie. Looking back at the camp, she could only think of what was going through Matt's head.

Feeling something pull at her leg, she turned to see Astrid kneeling down next to them. "I hate to break up the conversation, but we need to start with the plan right now!" she said, staring at both Hiccup and Heather

"Why? Anxious to fly?" Hiccup said with a smile.

"That's not the reason!" Astrid said with a little heat in her voice. Pointing to the ocean, she then added "We have a time limit now!"

Both Hiccup and Heather stared at where Astrid was pointing to. Staring at the ocean, Hiccup then said "Oh…well…I guess we better get going then!"

In the ocean was a massive ship with a red sail, heading towards the island.

Heather quickly ran to Valkyrie, who was more than ready to let her new rider on. Sitting on Valkyrie's neck, she gripped the spikes to hold herself on. "I'm ready when you are!"

"Alright…I'll be right behind you." Astrid said, slowly getting on her saddle. Feeling someone help her climb on, she turned to see Hiccup standing next to Stormfly.

"Be careful Astrid…just wait until the distraction is pulling all their attention." Hiccup said, resting his hand on Astrid's leg.

"Don't worry Hiccup." Astrid said smiling "It all depends on what kind of distraction you give us."

Smiling, Hiccup said "You'll know it when you see it."

At that, Astrid launched into the air with Heather following. The Skrill easily caught up to the Deadly Nadder and with that, they began to fly higher and higher into the morning sky.

Hiccup and Toothless then crawled back up to the top of the hill. Laying down, Hiccup saw that the ship already landed. Looking at Toothless, he asked "You ready bud?"

Toothless just growled as he looked at Hiccup. A small smile seemed to grow on the Night Fury's face.

"Good…let's give these guys a wake up call they'll never forget…" Hiccup said, staring at the camp.

* * *

><p>Matt was once again forced on his knees. Looking out at the ocean, he saw the ship drop its anchor. The men on the deck were scrambling to lower a boat with three people in it.<p>

"Well…that's quite timely." Savage said with a smile "Looks like your new owner's anxious to get someone new."

"Great…" Matt groaned, completely defeated. Learning that his friends were split up and missing, he knew that rescue wasn't going to happen. He felt empty; terrified of his future.

"Come now, smile a little!" Savage said, teasing Matt "He's actually the one you should want to be owned by."

Matt just stared at the ground, completely numb to all sensations. He could hear Wasatch roar in the distance, making him even more sick to his stomach. Time seemed to pass with the speed of an arrow being shot into the air because as soon as Matt saw the three people being lowered, he heard them beaching their boat on the shore.

"Savage." A voice called out. It was gruff and deep. "What happened to your ship?"

"Ah…well." Savage began to say. Looking at Matt with an angry look, he explained "This monster was the cause of it. I had a lot more slaves and dragons on board, but he freed them." Gesturing to the ship, he added "All that destruction was because of him, and now he's the only one that I have."

"Well…I can give you and your men ride back to my land to get a new ship. But first! Business at hand." The voice replied.

Matt finally looked up, staring at the stranger. Wearing a decorated metal chest, engraved with gold, was a medium sized man with a short beard walking towards him. He was wearing a classic looking Viking helmet with a long black cape. He carried a long sword that was strapped to his waist. He looked like a leader. A wealthy one.

Kneeling down in front of Matt, the stranger asked "I hope these bruises aren't permanent?"

"No they're not." Savage replied "They should be gone within the week. However…there are two flaws with this particular individual."

"So why are you trying to sell him to me?" The stranger asked, looking up from Matt "You know my standards."

"Because he's the only one I got right now!" Savage said angrily "It's either him or no one."

"You said he released other prisoners you had." The stranger said, not taking his eyes off Savage "Have they gotten off this island?"

"Er…well…" Savage stammered "No, I think they're on the island still. But they're proving to be…elusive."

"I'll have my men help you then." The stranger said standing up "But for half the price of what they would normally be."

"Well…you see, they're being elusive due to the fact that-" Savage began to say, but was interrupted by a sudden lightning strike in the center of the camp. Looking at where the lightning struck, he saw Wasatch radiate lightning and trying to arc it at some Slavers.

"What is that!?" The stranger asked, staring at the netted dragon.

"That's my Skrill." Matt replied angrily "My dragon."

"You have a dragon…" the stranger asked softly.

"And my friends have theirs too!" Matt followed up with. Standing straight up on his knees, he then threatened "They'll blow your ship to pieces if you try to leave with me!"

The stranger looked down at Matt with an impressed look. "I've only had one slave make a threat to me…he died shortly after he failed to live up to it." Kneeling down in front of Matt again, he then said "But you have actions behind your words. Your dragon…Savage's ship…I like that."

Savage rammed his spear butt into Matt's chest, causing him to fall violently backwards. "Sorry! I've had to hit him a few times whenever he spoke out of line." Looking at Matt who was gasping for breath, he added "As far as his so-called friends go, my men scattered them. They won't be able to attack or anything."

"Savage." The stranger said calmly "I'll punish him when I feel I need to. Understand?"

Savage just stared at the stranger, not saying anything. Nodding, he took a step back from him.

Looking back at Matt, who was struggling to get up, the stranger asked "How many of your friends are here?"

"Would you like to know…" Matt said, breathing heavily. Finally able to at least sit up, Matt stared at the stranger and said "I will say that one of them rides a Night Fury."

"A WHAT!?" The stranger said in shock. Turning to Savage, he asked loudly "Who in the god's names did you capture!?"

"Does it matter?" Savage asked angrily, seeing that the deal was going south "I have a slave for you."

"At what cost?" The stranger asked, glaring at Savage "and I'm not talking about the gold."

"Listen! I have someone I'm willing to sell right here, right now." Savage said loudly.

"The way I see it…" The stranger said darkly "You need to get off this rock. Since you only have one prisoner, and not a very healthy one at that, I'll take him as payment to bring you to my land."

"What!?" Savage said in shock. Realizing that he was on a losing battle, he shook the news away and said "How about this. If we can't get you the other prisoners by tomorrow morning, then I'll agree to letting you have him for a ride to your island. For now, at least inspect the kid to make sure he's someone you want."

The stranger pondered the proposal. Stroking his beard, he said "Fine…by tomorrow at noon. Are you sure the escapee's won't attack? Or attempt to free this young spitfire."

Matt took the spitfire as a compliment. He was really trying to make their lives miserable; and it was working.

"Of course. And even if they do, it'll more than likely be just one of them. And probably later tonight." Savage replied, confident in his answer.

"Get your men ready to go search for them." The stranger said to Savage. Looking down at Matt he then said "My men will stay here to defend the camp while I inspect the prisoner."

Savage didn't say anything. Staring at Matt with anger on his face, he turned and briskly walked towards the center of the camp. Giving orders to his men, he made sure that he stayed away from the Skrill that was covered in lightning.

Matt then felt himself picked up. Standing on his feet, he saw that the stranger was staring at his back.

"Nasty scars you have back here…" he said softly, tenderly running his hand across the rough texture of Matt's back "Mind telling me how you got them? And your name?"

"A dragon." Matt said simply, looking forward at the ocean; trying his hardest to ignore the hand. "A friend was in trouble, so I made sure she wasn't." Breathing loudly, he added "And my name is Matt, what's yours?"

"Matt? An interesting name…Never heard of it before…" The stranger observed "So, you helped your friend who was a girl then…" the stranger quietly said, finally taking his hand off Matt's back "Someone special?"

"Why do you care? You're just going to rip me away from the life I had." Matt shot back, watching the stranger stand in front of him "And you never told me your name!"

"And I won't until we're sailing back home; and I also don't care if it is someone special." The stranger replied with a smile. Grabbing Matt's jaw, he began to check inside his mouth as well as assess the bruises "Just trying to find out how I can break your wild spirit."

Feeling disgusted that he was being treated like a farm animal at an auction, Matt pulled away from the hand that gripped him. Getting free, he then said "If you're going to check me out like a yak, then maybe you should know about my leg."

"Oh…what is it?" The stranger asked with a chuckle, looking as if he was proud of Matt.

Creeped out at the expression, Matt quickly said "I'm a gimp. A cripple. I can barely run let alone work without a special brace."

Nodding, the stranger then said "Well…I guess you're going to be the only exception I'll ever have."

"Why?" Matt said, trying to hide the panic in his voice. He's been trying to bring up every flaw with himself that he could, but it seemed to be selling him more and more.

"You'll be the first person I bought with ambition; a fighter." The stranger said, slightly pushing Matt backwards and watching his leg.

Stumbling backwards, he then muttered "The brace is active." Then in a louder voice asked "Why do you want a fighter as a slave? That's usually a bad thing."

"Well…to be honest, I don't want a fighter." The stranger admitted, smiling at Matt "I have my personal reasons at why I'm so interested in you. Yes, I know it looks like I'm buying you as a slave; but in reality, I'm bringing home a friend. Please notice that I have not once referred to you as a 'slave' since I arrived here." Laughing he added "All my…merchandise…consider me their friend because I treat them like partners. When they arrive to my land, they get a farm, a small house, a few animals; and they give me loyalty in turn for what I give them."

"Well…there's nothing you can offer me." Matt said somberly "Trust me when I say I've been to places and done things that aren't even part of this world. I even left a life behind to be where I am."

"I realize that you'll be a special challenge Matt. Not only when I take you away from your island and lifestyle, but keeping you with me." The stranger said, taking a step back from Matt "If your friends ride dragons such as yourself…well, it'll be only a matter of ti-"

Suddenly a blue explosion went off at the edge of the camp, demolishing a few tents. Recovering from the sound of the explosion, the stranger then shouted "What in Thor's name!?"

"Well...that couldn't have been timed better." Matt said with a smile "I guess my friends can still attack whenever they want!"

Another explosion went off. The plasma blasts were coming from a far hill, almost as if it was artillery bombarding a target. With that and Wasatch arcing lightning randomly, it seemed like the organized camp was now a chaotic pandemonium.

"Birkir, Hroki, help me load Matt into the boat! We'll keep him on our ship so that his friend's don't destroy it!" The stranger ordered, grabbing Matt's arm.

Realizing what they were going to do, Matt instantly recoiled back to fight the grip that the stranger had on him. Seeing one of his guards reach for him, Matt lifted his bad leg and kicked the guard in the groin. Feeling pain shoot through the leg, Matt watched the guard crumple to the ground whimpering.

Feeling himself grabbed in a big bear hug, Matt tried to fight back. With his arms still tied behind him, all he could do was wildly kick at the stranger who was holding him.

The second guard then ran and grabbed Matt's legs, starting to wrap a coil of rope around them. Trying to kick the rope off, Matt saw the guard take a lightning bolt to the face. Watching in the surprise, he heard the stranger yell "Birkir!"

Smiling, Matt turned his head, expecting to see Wasatch. Even though he saw Wasatch, he was confused to see that his dragon was still in the net and only arcing lightning bolts at short distances. Trying to piece together what happened, Matt heard the stranger scream "What the!?"

Before he could look to see what made the stranger yell, Matt felt himself jerked out of his captor's grasp. Looking up, he saw that a Skrill had grabbed him! "Oh not good!" Matt shouted, realizing that he could be taken literately anywhere.

Looking back down at the camp, Matt saw something that made him gasp. Astrid and Stormfly were flying low to the ground, skimming past tents. Flying directly to where Wasatch was, Stormfly let out a single spike at the rope that held Wasatch suspended. Cutting the rope, Stormfly picked the net off of Wasatch and then started to fly straight up into the air to dodge any bolas thrown.

Wasatch immediately went into a rage. Launching himself in the air, he let out a fury of lightning bolts into the camp; striking at about anything and everything.

All the slavers could only dive into cover, unable to even try to take a shot at the furious Skrill.

Making sure that he did the damage that he wanted, Wasatch then flew to chase after Matt, still being carried away by the unknown Skrill.

Relaxing slightly that Wasatch was free, Matt returned his attention to the Skrill that was flying farther away from the camp "Hey! Let me go you stupid dragon!" Struggling, he couldn't really even move while being held by his shoulders and his arms still tied up.

"That's not really nice to say to the dragon saving your life." A voice sounded.

Looking around in confusion, Matt slowly said "Heather?"

Looking down from the left side of the dragon, Heather smiled at Matt whose eyes were as wide as chicken eggs. "The one and only!" she shouted, laughing at his facial expression.

"Wh-How are you on a Skrill!?" Matt shouted in confusion, unable to even grasp that he was actually talking the Heather.

"She trained it out of necessity, kind of like you!" Astrid's voice called out.

Looking to where he heard her voice, Matt saw Astrid coasting Stormfly next to Heather. "I am so confused right now!" He said out loud, shaking his head.

"Well, snap out of it!" Astrid shouted "We only have a few minutes to get you ready to fly! Hiccup's already running from the Slavers and we need to meet up with him to regroup!"

Still shaking his head, he then began to ask Heather "How did you train a Skrill!?"

"Matt! Now's really not a good time for questions!" Astrid quickly cut in. Guiding Stormfly to land, she motioned Heather to do the same.

Matt was gently dropped on the ground. With the coil of rope still around his legs, and his arms still behind his back, he could only flop onto the ground. Rolling with the inertia, he finally stopped. Trying to sit up, Matt closed his eyes in pain as he shifted his leg. From sleeping with the brace on all night, to being beat up all morning, and then being dropped by a dragon; Matt's pain tolerance was reaching its limit. Feeling himself tenderly picked up, Matt opened his eyes to see both Astrid and Heather. After standing him up, Heather knelt down to untie the ropes at his ankles while Astrid drew a dagger with her good arm and cut his hands free.

"Matt!" Heather said with relief in her voice, grabbing Matt in a hug "Thank the Gods…"

"I'm fine Heather. At least now I am…" Matt said, relishing in the moment that he was freed and was holding Heather. Even though a thousand questions were running through his head, he took the few seconds he had with Heather and held her.

Pulling away from Matt, Heather looked at the bruises on his face as well as those that were growing on his chest from the hits he took. "What did they do to you?" she asked, tenderly rubbing the bruise on his cheek.

"Let's just say they tried to discipline me…" Matt whispered with a small smile "I'm fine. Really, I am!"

"Hey guys?" Astrid cut in, staring at the two "I know that we're all happy to see each other, but we need to get moving! Hiccup's going to wait for us and I want to be there before the Slavers find him."

"Ah yeah of course." Matt said, looking away from Heather. The questions began to run through his head again, to which he just shrugged away and focused on what Astrid was telling them.

"Can you ride?" Astrid asked, looking at Matt's bruises.

"Probably not standing, but I can sit on Wasatch." He replied, looking at his dragon who landed next to him and was eyeing the new Skrill. "I'll just follow you."

"Are you sure?" Heather asked, concerned for Matt.

Smiling, Matt deactivated his brace and limped over to Wasatch. Swinging his leg over, he said "I'm fine. Just lead the way. The sooner we all get away, the sooner you can explain to me how the hell you trained a Skrill."

"It's a story…" Heather said, relieved that Matt was still acting like himself. Climbing on Valkyrie, she then said "I'll follow you Matt, just in case you need help or something."

Nodding, Astrid slowly climbed on Stormfly, careful with her arm still resting in the homemade sling. Being settled in the saddle, she let Stormfly launch into the air. Urging Wasatch to follow, Matt gripped his front binding to help stabilize himself. He could hear Heather and her Skrill follow closely behind him. Turning around, he made eye contact with Heather and mouthed "Thank you."

Smiling, Heather just nodded and kept on looking forward.

Facing to what was ahead of him, Matt focused on keeping his eyes open and following Astrid.

"Matt!" Hiccup said loudly, seeing the group land their dragons where he and Toothless were hiding.

"Hiccup!" Matt shouted back, sliding off of Wasatch's neck. Limping to Hiccup, he grabbed him in a hug. "Thank you for coming for me…I was so sure that I was going to be leaving this island as a slave." he said quietly.

"It was rough trying to come up with a plan." Hiccup said with a smile, pulling away from Matt "When we saw that ship arrive, we just went with what we had."

"It was mainly Heather's idea" Astrid said with a smile "We just added a little bit of our ideas into it as well."

"Thank you guys…" Matt said softly, incredibly grateful to have the friends he had. Limping near Astrid, he then grabbed her in a hug saying "I forgot to thank you for freeing Wasatch and helping me escape."

"Please!" Astrid said with a smile "When am I not saving your butt?"

"That's a fair point." Matt replied with a smile "How 'bout we stop this hero business? I don't think my body can take another round of beatings."

Looking at Matt's bruised body, Hiccup asked "How bad did they treat you?"

"Can't you see?" Matt answered in a serious tone, gesturing to his body "Anytime I talked or shifted my body wrong, they hit me in the chest or stomach. One of the slavers was going to cut my tongue out."

Heather then jumped in "We need to get going! I don't want to be here anymore than we need to be!" She still didn't want to think what could have happened to Matt.

"Agreed." Astrid followed up "We can talk about this later, right now we need to put some more distance between us and the slavers."

"And the buyers." Matt muttered. Turning to Hiccup he said "The stranger that was going to buy me said he'd help Savage find the rest of you. I imagine that he still intends to do that since he lost me."

"Well…that's not good." Hiccup said methodically. Looking at Matt he said "Well, I guess now's a good time to figure out why that lightning storm never goes away."

"Wait, why?" Astrid asked curiously.

"Because I think that it'll deter our enemies from following us." Hiccup explained "and it lets us get farther away from their camp."

Looking at the lightning filled sky to the west of them, Matt added "And who knows what we might find."

"Fine, let's get going. We can explain each other's stories on the ride there." Heather said, walking next to Matt "As I'm sure you have a few questions."

"You're absolutely right about that." Matt replied, staring at Valkyrie "More than a few actually."

Smiling, Heather handed Matt his sword. Grasping it, Matt smiled and said "Well, that answers one of my questions."

"Need a coat?" Astrid asked, gesturing to Matt's bruised body "A shirt at least? We can tear some of our leather on our saddles to make you something."

Shaking his head, Matt said "Nah, its summer. The days are warmer and the nights aren't bad when I'm sleeping with Wasatch." Pulling Heather closer to him, he added "Besides, I'm sure she's going to make something to put on the bruises."

"Maybe. If I can find some ingredients." Heather said with a smile. Pulling away from Matt, she climbed on Valkyrie and said "Ready to go?"

"Yes lets…" Hiccup said softly, climbing into his saddle "We'll need to put as much distance between us and Savage as we can."

Matt tenderly climbed onto Wasatch's neck and said "Well, lead the way Hiccup. We'll be right with you."


	8. Chapter Eight

**Wow. Sorry for the long update. I hope this long chapter makes up for me taking so much time. With Finals done and Winter Break in session, I actually have less time to write with work and family activities. I will try to finish the last chapter next week though. Can't believe that this story is almost done. Though this story seems to be a random adventure, there is a reason why I wrote it. It'll have a little bit more meaning for the last two stories in the Dragon Boarder Series. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Chapter Eight**

As the group rode on towards the lightning storm, Heather was explaining what happened to her and how she found Valkyrie; well more so how Valkyrie found Heather.

"Amazing…so she let you help her?" Matt asked in shock, looking at Heather in disbelief.

"Yeah." Heather replied simply "I just showed her what I wanted to do and she let me do it." Looking down at Valkyrie, she added "Even though she hit me with her wing, she still saved my life."

"I guess you're the Skrill Master now…" Matt said with a smile "You didn't even have to run from it."

"Well to be fair, I couldn't run if I wanted to." Heather replied, petting Valkyrie "My legs were wrapped up in some bolas."

Realizing the danger that Heather was in, Matt asked "So…what happened when I was captured. What did you guys do?"

"Well, I had to stitch Astrid's arm back together after the slash she took." Heather began to explain.

"Which opened back up by the way…" Astrid threw in, pointing at her arm hanging in her sling.

"I know…I don't have any more supplies to close it back up." Heather said sadly, staring at Astrid's arm "At least it stopped bleeding."

"Good thing too." Astrid said, looking at the cut arm "I was feeling a little light headed when it opened back up."

"So how did you guys get separated then?" Matt cut in "Savage told me that he split you guys up after you tried to get a Slaver outfit."

"Well, we went back to the arena to try and find one of the slavers that was killed." Astrid said, returning her look to Matt "I guess they knew we'd come back that way because they were waiting for us when we got there."

"They surrounded us and we all had to split up to get away." Hiccup then said, looking back at Matt "I couldn't help Heather when that happened."

"And then you know the rest." Heather finished off "I swam down river, er well, I mostly drowned down the river and then found Valkyrie."

"So that's why Savage was confident that you wouldn't attack." Matt said, putting the pieces of the story together.

"Yes, and like I said before, we didn't really have a plan until Heather found us." Hiccup added, letting Toothless walk next to Wasatch "Even then it was kind of risky."

"Well, it worked out and I'm not going to complain with results." Matt replied with a smile "I'm just grateful that I'm free and with you guys."

Smiling, Hiccup just nodded. Then with a serious tone, asked "So…what do you know about Savage's customer?"

Frowning, Matt just shook his head. "I don't even know how to describe him. I don't even know his name."

"Well, just call him 'Buyer'. Since that's what he was going to do." Astrid threw in, eyes narrowing with anger.

"I'll agree to call him that." Matt said nodding. Looking at Hiccup he said "He's really particular with who he buys. He spent some time inspecting me. Apparently, whoever he buys have to be perfect both physically and health wise."

"So…he wasn't going to purchase you?" Heather asked "I mean, did he know about your leg?"

"Yeah, I told him about it and he wasn't really excited when he saw my back too." Matt answered "It was weird because every flaw I brought up almost seemed to sell me more. He even told me that I was going to be the only exception he'd have."

"Why?" Hiccup asked, looking at Matt with a quizzical look.

Shrugging, Matt replied "I have no idea why. He danced around any questions that I asked."

"I'm just glad you're not going to be a slave now…" Heather said with relief on her face.

"Well, that's the main reason why I don't understand him." Matt said with a confused look on his face "He buys people to…set them free? He never actually enslaves the people he brings back to his home, but rather turns them into his friends or subjects."

"You believe him?" Astrid asked while raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know…" Matt replied "My mind wants to believe him because he stopped Savage from beating me. Well, even more than what he already did. Then again, he is someone who regularly buys prisoners and probably lies to them all the time."

"But why would he do that?" Heather asked "Why would he want to buy someone, set them free, and still not let them go back to where they came from?"

Again, Matt shook his head and said "I don't know. Everything I told you is all I was able to learn from him; plus some of my opinions. That guy is a mystery to me." Suddenly, Matt felt Wasatch stop. Looking at Hiccup, who also stopped on top of a small hill, he was about to ask why when he realized where they were. Looking up above them, he saw that the group was almost directly under the storm clouds. "Huh…I guess we're here then…" he whispered, taking in the awe inspiring sight.

"Well…they're lower than what I thought originally." Astrid said, staring at the lightning infested clouds.

"That's not what I'm confused about." Hiccup said, not taking his eyes off what was ahead. Pointing, he said "I don't think Thor himself can unleash that much lightning."

Matt climbed the hill and stood next to Hiccup. Seeing what Hiccup was staring at, he silently said "Is this what the end of the world looks like?"

Astrid and Heather quickly jogged up next to them, only to gasp at the amazing and terrifying sight. Almost at once, everyone slid off their dragons to soak in the view.

It looked like a wall of lightning; thousands of strikes hitting the ground not far from where they stood. Because of the size and how frequent the lightning was hitting the ground, it definitely seemed to be an impassible obstacle.

"Well…what now?" Astrid asked, looking at Hiccup.

"I…I don't know…I honestly wasn't expecting something like this." Hiccup said with wide eyes.

Looking at the lightning show, Matt felt himself pushed in the back. Whirling around, he saw that Wasatch was trying to push him towards the lightning. "Easy boy. I can take a few shocks from you; but not a thousand volts." Matt said with smile, pushing back on the Skrill.

Not listening to Matt, Wasatch then rammed his head into Matt's bruised chest; forcing him to go. Valkyrie was doing the same thing to Heather, who was trying to get around her dragon.

"Wasatch!?" Matt shouted "What's wrong with you!"

Wasatch ignored Matt's shouts as he continued to herd his rider towards the lightning storm. Valkyrie was doing the same to Heather as she tried to run around her dragon.

"What's going on!?" Hiccup asked out loud, staring at the Skrill's bossing their riders around.

"I don't know, you tell me!" Matt shouted, as he tried to run around Wasatch. Leaping over the wing that tried to stop him, Matt suddenly felt himself get shocked. Falling to the ground, Matt rolled over onto his back to see Wasatch softly bite his boot and began to drag him towards the lightning.

"Arrrggh!" Matt shouted, grasping his leg "That's my bad leg you stupid dragon!"

"Matt!" Hiccup yelled running after him. Reaching for Matt's hand, he began to pull against the Skrill. Toothless was about to charge Wasatch when Valkyrie turned and roared in his face. Toothless in turn roared back, a lot more softly though. Valkyrie then motioned her head towards the lightning, growling softly. Staring at the two dragons in confusion, Hiccup then saw Stormfly begin to nudge Astrid towards the lightning as well.

"They want us all to walk towards it." Hiccup said, watching Toothless begin to push him.

Kicking Wasatch with his good leg to make him let go, Matt slowly stood up. Turning to his dragon he shouted angrily "Fine! If you want me to get killed, I'll follow you!"

Wasatch almost seemed to smile as he turned around and began to walk to the lightning. Reluctantly, Matt followed with the rest of the group behind him.

Just as he began to feel the ground shake from the constant lightning strike, Matt then said "I'm sorry boy, I'm not going to go any closer!"

Turning to Matt, Wasatch just roared. Facing the lightning again, he launched himself into the air and flew through the storm wall.

"Where's he going?" Heather asked in confusion, watching the Skrill disappear.

Matt just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I'm starting to think he forgot I can't take lightning like he can."

Before anyone could reply, the lightning suddenly stopped! Looking past where the lightning was striking, an entire canyon was revealed. With steep, rocky cliff faces on both sides, there was no way one could see it when the lightning was striking. Unsure of what to do, the group just stood there; waiting for something.

Annoyed that they weren't moving; Valkyrie began to push Heather, urging her to keep on going.

Feeling a little bit safer with the lighting gone, Heather began to walk towards the small hill. Matt also did so, walking next to her. Both Hiccup and Astrid were right behind them. Walking into the mouth of the canyon, Matt saw Wasatch fly towards him, roaring happily. Behind him though were five other Skrills! Following him closely.

Landing in front of the group, Wasatch began to rub against Matt, sending light shocks into him.

"Wasatch!" Matt said in awe, and out of reaction as he kept getting small jolts sent into his body "Is this your home!?"

"Amazing…" Hiccup said, staring at the sides of the canyon "It's a whole nest of Skrills!"

Realizing what Hiccup said, the group turned to see Skrill's climbing over the rocks to get a look at the visitors. Almost instantly, two Skrills flew to the top of the canyon and began to create a lightning storm; sealing the entrance off.

"That answers so many questions!" Hiccup said, staring at the Skrills acting as guards "That's why the lightning never stopped or moved! This is probably where Wasatch was living when he found you training Dagur's Skrill."

"And why I found Valkyrie in the first place." Heather added, trying to soak in the sight.

Valkyrie then walked up to one of the Skrills that followed Wasatch, growling at it. Mesmerized by the Skrills seemingly to communicate with each other; Matt, Hiccup, Astrid, and Heather were suddenly ambushed by a dozen baby Skrills. All curious of their visitors.

"It's amazing." Astrid said, kneeling down to stroke one of the babies that was sniffing her boot "It's like their own community. Like our village!"

"That being said, who's their 'chief' then?" Matt asked, letting two baby Skrills climb on his back.

"My guess…that one." Hiccup said, pointing up to the sky.

Looking at where he was pointing, the group saw a massive Skrill land in front of them. Roaring, the dragon stared at the group, making the baby Skrill's back away immediately. It had a green color to it. More like greenish blue. It was probably twice the size of Wasatch or Valkyrie.

"Odin help us…" Hiccup said softly, staring at the Skrill in disbelief "That thing is massive!"

"Bigger than the Red Death? Or the Bewilderbeast?" Astrid quickly cut in jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Not really a good time to joke." Hiccup whispered back, taking a step back.

"Yeah Astrid, you really need to work on your timing." Matt quickly added with a smirk on his face, adding to Astrid's joke.

Hiccup just glared at them, and then returned his attention at the Skrill.

Still looking at the foreigners, the Skrill then roared at them. Toothless and Stormfly went into a defensive position, standing next to their riders. Both Wasatch and Valkyrie also stood next to their riders; except in a more relaxed nature.

"I hope your dragons knew what they were doing bringing us in here." Astrid whispered to Heather.

"Me too!" Heather weakly whispered back.

The big Skrill just stared at them, as if pondering something. Looking at both Wasatch and Valkyrie, it roared angrily at the two Skrills and began to walk towards them. Wasatch immediately roared back, standing in between the massive Skrill and the group. Almost immediately, Valkyrie did the same; standing next to Wasatch. The big Skrill just stared at them, with a confused and angry look. Roaring loudly, it slowly backed off. Angry that the two Skrill's were defending their friends, the Skrill fired a lightning bolt at a boulder, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. Storming away from them, it flew back in the direction that it came from.

Watching the Skrill fly away, Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief and said "That could have been bad…" Turning around to face everyone, he then said "Looks like the babies are coming back for another look."

Everyone turned to see the flock of baby Skrill glide back towards them. One landed on Heather's hair and shocked her. With her hair standing on end, she quickly grabbed the Skrill and said in an annoyed tone "Thanks a lot, you little terror!" Rubbing its small spikes on its back, she then turned to Hiccup and said "I just hope we can rest for a little bit. I don't know if I can sit easy knowing that we're in a wild dragon's nest; especially when their leader doesn't seem to like us."

"Yeah, I think I'd rather take a chance and face those Slavers than stay here to fight these guys." Astrid said, letting one of the babies climb on her back "Let alone the entire nest!"

"I'm all for staying" Matt threw in, letting a baby Skrill bite his boot "As long as we have our Skrill's with us…I think we'll be fine." Gently playing tug-of-war with the baby, he added "I mean they let us in! I say that's a pretty good sign that they won't do anything to us."

"And we're all exhausted." Hiccup cut in, looking at Astrid "You've been injured and have had no rest; Heather's been on an emotional roller coaster since we've been here; Matt's been beaten and captured twice in the last day and a half; and I'm about to lose my mind if I have one more thing happen to us before I get some sleep." Pointing to their dragons, he added "Our dragons have been non-stop flying, running, fighting, and whatever else you can think of! We need to let them recuperate also." Turning to face the lightning storm at the canyon entrance he then continued "Besides, we won't have to keep watch with the Skrills already protecting us."

"I am feeling pretty tired actually…" Heather said, looking at Matt "Been awhile since I've slept without having to worry about something."

"Been awhile since I remember sleeping." Matt replied looking down. Then smiling, he joked "Well, at least on my free will. I don't count getting knocked out anymore."

"Fine…" Astrid said, giving in to everyone's reasons "I guess I'll be ok staying here too."

Smiling, Matt gently removed the Skrill that was still latched to his snowboard boot. Petting it, he slowly drew his sword and shocked the baby; to which it recoiled back in surprise. Not sure of what just happened, the baby just stared at Matt as he limped off to a slanted boulder. Sitting down, he leaned back against it and closed his eyes. Opening them when he heard Heather take a seat next to him, he smiled and said "Well, feel good to relax a little? At least not have to worry about being attacked?"

"More than you know!" Heather said, breathing heavily as she sat down next to him. Leaning against him, she added "I'm so glad you're safe…"

"I feel the same way Heather…" Matt said, leaning his head back against the rock and closing his eyes "I…I have to ask you something. When this is all over and when I'm not exhausted."

"What about?" Heather asked, looking at Matt in confusion.

"You'll see." Matt said, not opening his eyes "While captured, I had a lot of time to think of some of the things I'd do differently. I want to run it by you when we're not being hunted…"

Confused, Heather just nodded and said "Well, I guess I can wait. It's going to be killing me though."

Smiling, Matt said "Well, I guess it'll be that much more meaningful when we talk about it." At that he shifted a little and said "Good night Heather…have a good rest."

"You too Matt." Heather said, closing her eyes as well.

It didn't take long for sleep to overcome them, as they didn't even notice their dragons lay their wings over them.

Hiccup and Astrid were also settling down next to a rock. Making sure that the dragons weren't going to bug Astrid's arm, Hiccup finally rested against the rock. Sitting there with his arm around Astrid, he gently pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the cheek.

"What was that for?" Astrid asked, smiling at the surprise.

"For helping me." Hiccup replied quietly, resting his head against the boulder "I was falling apart and you helped me get through it."

"Yes, I did help." Astrid said, still smiling "But you were the one that did it. I just gave you a slight push."

"Can't you ever take a compliment?" Hiccup asked, shaking his head slightly "You never take the credit you deserve."

"Hmm…your right." Astrid teased "I'm the best at everything. Where would you be without me?"

"There's the Astrid I was looking for." Hiccup said smiling. Closing his eyes, he whispered "I love you Astrid."

"You too Hiccup." Astrid replied, closing her eyes and falling into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>"Wake up Matt!" Heather's voice sounded in his head. Slowly opening his eyes, he was blinded by the sun sitting at high noon.<p>

"Wha- What time is it?" he asked, shielding his eyes with his hand.

"Well, I'm not sure actually." Heather said, smiling at Matt "But it's been the whole night and half the day!"

"Man…we must have been incredibly tired if we slept that long." Matt said, yawning and stretching. Looking around, he saw both Wasatch was standing at Heather's side, staring down at him. Smiling, he slowly started to stand up, to which he felt his leg give him a little grief. Bracing himself against the boulder, he gently lifted his leg and let the pain die down.

"How bad is it?" Heather asked, looking at the leg.

"It's just waking up when it really bugs me." Matt said, lying slightly. Shifting his leg straight, he said "It feels a lot better now that I was actually able to rest it."

Not really convinced, Heather shook her head and said "You should stay off it as much as you can anyways. Who knows when we'll be able to rest like this again."

"Actually…a lot sooner than what you're probably thinking." Hiccup cut in, walking up to them. Astrid, Toothless and Stormfly were walking next to him as well.

"Oh? Why's that?" Matt asked "Did you fix Toothless' tail? Are we finally getting off this pointless rock?" With that, he noticed both Valkyrie and Wasatch glare at him. Seeing their expressions, he quickly added "It is a nice rock to live on though!"

Shaking his head, Hiccup explained "No, but I'm going to send one of you who can fly to get Eret. I don't know where the twins or Snotlout are, but they might not have been able to find Eret and his crew." Looking back at Astrid, he added "While the rest of us stay here under the protection of the Skrills, we can wait out Savage and this 'Buyer' until Eret arrives."

"Sounds good." Matt said nodding. Then, eyes glaring, he asked "So who are you sending? It better not be me."

"Or me." Heather and Astrid said at once.

Face palming himself, Hiccup moaned "I knew this would happen." Looking back up, he then said "I'll only tell you who's going if you all agree to go if it ends up being you. No questions. No debates. Nothing."

Everyone was quiet for a moment. No one wanted to leave the group, even if it meant a quicker rescue. Reluctantly, Matt nodded his head and said "I'll agree to go if it is me. But I will be cussing the entire ride."

"Fine." Astrid said rolling her eyes "I'll go if I need to as well."

"I guess that includes me." Heather said with a frown.

"Good." Hiccup said "I'm sending Astrid."

"What!?" Astrid yelled angrily, drawing the attention of a few Skrills. "Why!?"

"Because of your arm." Hiccup said, facing her "You need to get that taken care of and if we do end up fighting, you wouldn't be able to help as much as you used to."

"But Hiccup!" Astrid began to say.

Raising his hand, Hiccup cut her off and said "I thought you agreed to go?"

"I did but doesn't mean that I'm going to be quiet about it." Astrid yelled "I promise I'm fine! My arm doesn't hurt anymore."

"Good. You'll be able to fly a lot more comfortable while finding Eret!" Hiccup replied adamantly "You're going. End of discussion."

Astrid fumed as she stared at Hiccup. She was expecting him to send Matt, with the experiences he just had. Hanging her head, she just whispered "Fine. I'll leave right now then."

"Thank you Astrid." Hiccup replied. Unsure of what to say next, he just went and walked up to her.

Turning away from him, Astrid began to climb onto Stormfly. Careful not to bump her arm in a sling, she tenderly pulled herself onto her saddle.

"Astrid." Hiccup said softly "I don't want you to be angry with me, but I don't want your arm any more injured than it has to."

"So that's why you're keeping Matt?" Astrid asked coldly "Did you forget all that he's gone through?"

"That's not really fair to compare yourself to him." Hiccup rebutted "He can still fight if he needs to. You just struggled getting on your saddle."

"Hiccup. I can still get things done!" Astrid said heatedly "In fact, I believe that I was the one who freed Wasatch yesterday."

"I know that!" Hiccup exhaled "But your arm isn't getting better!"

"Remember when Matt's back was burnt?" Astrid asked, eyes narrowing "He didn't need to have his back healed; he needed to be able to help!"

"But I did have a week and half to rest it." Matt cut in, standing next to Hiccup "You've only had a few hours to rest since you received that cut. Besides, I'd be fighting for you to stay if we had anything here to help treat it. Heather's run completely dry on her supplies."

"I was hoping you'd back me up…" Astrid said, eyes glaring at Matt.

Shaking his head, Matt added "Like I said, I would be if we had something to help take care of your arm."

"You know…next time I teach you how to fight with a sword, I might 'miss' next time." Astrid threatened, not taking her eyes off of Matt.

"…Great…" Matt muttered looking at Hiccup "You've killed me."

Smiling at the joke, Hiccup then looked up at Astrid and said "I'm sending you to find Eret not just for your sake, but mine to. I'd feel a lot better knowing that you'll be safe and knowing that your arm will get some attention."

"Fine!" Astrid breathed loudly, looking up in the sky "But when I get back, you're not going to be feeling 'fine' then!"

"I'm kind of already planning on that." Hiccup said with a smile "Be careful Astrid. Stay up high so that the Slavers can't get you."

"I know that!" Astrid replied angrily. Then, in a softer voice, added "I'll be fine Hiccup…just…stay out of trouble until we come get you."

"Don't worry we will." Hiccup said smiling. Stepping back from Astrid, he then said "Better get going. The sooner the better."

"Bye Hiccup." Astrid said, still frowning.

"Bye Astrid." Hiccup replied softly, looking up at Astrid.

"Mind having the Skrill let me through their little lightning gate?" Astrid asked, looking at Matt.

"Let me see what I can do…" he said, smiling as he climbed on to Wasatch's neck "Alright boy, time to work some of your magic."

Wasatch roared and launched into the air. Flying towards the one of the Skrills atop of the canyon, he started to growl at the Skrill.

Roaring back, the Skrill stopped radiating lightning. The other Skrill on the other side of the canyon did as well, letting the lightning stop and allowing Astrid and Stormfly to begin their flight.

"Be careful Astrid!" Matt shouted, watching her fly higher into the sky.

"Don't worry about me. Just don't get caught again!" She shouted back "I might not help you just because I'm getting tired of saving your butt!"

"Noted!" Matt yelled with smile. Watching her disappear into the sky, Matt guided Wasatch down onto the ground and slid off. Watching the Skrill start the lightning again, he then said to Heather "Now…only a matter of time until we finally start heading home."

"Not soon enough…" Heather said, holding her stomach with her hand "We haven't really eaten anything since we got to this island."

Hearing this, Matt did start to feel his stomach ache. Even though he ate something when he was at Savage's camp, he was still hungry. Looking at Heather and Hiccup, he just imagined what they must be going through.

"I think Valkyrie has a solution." Hiccup said looking up at the purple and white Skrill gliding towards them. In her mouth were dozens of fish.

"I was wondering where she went!" Heather said with some relief "I was afraid that she left me.

Landing in front of the group, Valkyrie dropped the pile of fish onto the ground. Looking up at Heather, the Skrill then bumped her in the chest and shocked her. Laughing, Heather began to rub her dragon's head. "Is this why you disappeared? To get us something to eat!"

Hiccup pulled some fish out of the pile that weren't partly eaten or digested. "Well, if we cook them they should be decent to eat." Looking at Toothless, he then said "Toothless, plasma blast!"

Toothless fired a small blue fireball into the ground. Blowing away parts of the earth and leaving a small crater, Toothless stood back and let the heat of the burning rocks radiate.

"Thanks bud." Hiccup said with smile, tossing a fish to the Night Fury. Picking up a stick from the ground, he set the fish on it and stuck it over the fire. Matt followed suit, finding two sticks and giving one to Heather.

Letting their fish cook, Matt took a seat next to the heated rocks. Leaning against Wasatch, who was dining on his own small pile of fish, Matt looked to see Heather sitting next to her dragon, who was napping. "You're really not that nervous around her are you?" he asked, watching Heather turn her fish so that it wouldn't get burned.

"I was at first. It took everything for me to climb onto her back when I realized I trained her." Heather said, looking down at her sleeping dragon "But it helped that I was exposed to Wasatch."

Smiling, Matt then asked "So…does this mean that there's going to be no more moonlight flights together?"

Laughing, Heather replied "We'll rotate dragons if it means that much to you."

"I'll agree to that." Matt said laughing, rotating his fish. Turning to Hiccup, he asked "So…I have to ask, what are we going to do about Savage?"

"I…I don't really know." Hiccup said simply, staring at the glowing crater "I figured that when we get back, that we'll just stop fishing to the south of us while we send a three or four ships to stop him. I'm not entirely sure though."

Matt frowned at this and then said "What if we try and sink 'Buyer's' ship? You know, before we leave. That way they'll be stuck on this island."

"No." Hiccup said quickly "We're not risking another stupid mission to try and cripple Savage and his men! No, we'll wait until Eret gets here."

"That's what I mean!" Matt argued "I'm not saying right now, but on our way out; when we leave!"

Before Hiccup could reply, Heather cut in and said "Matt! Just relax for a little bit. You're always trying bite off more than you can chew!"

"Why not though?" Matt countered real quick "If we can keep them on this island, we won't have to worry about them coming after us!"

"What makes you think that no one won't come back for them?" Heather asked.

"You heard Savage. No one comes to this island." Matt replied "They'd be stuck here for a long time."

"Matt, please stop." Hiccup said, rubbing his forehead with his hand "I realize that you're trying to cripple Savage and his friend; which I'm all for. What I'm not for is to run a risk where we are captured or killed again. With or without Eret." Staring at Matt, he continued "I'm only going to do something like that when I have an absolute advantage. Until then, just relax. You've got to rest your leg!"

"It's fine Hiccup." Matt said, returning his attention to his fish "I bet I can stand on Wasatch right now if I wanted to." Making sure his fish wasn't burnt, he then added "If there's an opportunity to sink that ship, I'm going to take it."

"We'll see…" Hiccup sighed, realizing that Matt was going to do whatever he wanted. "You know, you're more stubborn than me."

"I guess its genetics." Matt joked "Got it from you."

Shaking his head, Hiccup laughed at the joke.

* * *

><p>Later that afternoon, after they all ate something, the group just sat talked with each other; specifically what changes they wanted to do to Berk when they got back.<p>

"I don't know, I think if we extended the dragon hangar we'll have to add more water lines for fire control…" Matt said, thinking on the subject "Not that big of an issue, but it would be needed."

"I can talk to Gobber about digging another well. If we can get one by the hanger, then we can use our existing one to expand our village to the north for Vikings." Hiccup said with a smile. Leaning against a boulder he then said "That'll make both dragons and Vikings happy."

"You really are a good chief Hiccup." Matt said, looking at him proudly "In the 6 months that I've lived here, you've spent so much time and energy helping everyone in Berk."

"Yeah, except I almost failed…" Hiccup said while rolling his eyes.

"Oh please." Heather jumped in "This could've happened to Stoick or anyone! And it wasn't just you that failed. It was all of us."

"Yeah, if I was defending the entrance to the hold of the ship, Savage wouldn't have been able to get the jump on us." Matt added.

"Heh, you guys aren't really helping me feel better." Hiccup said with a small smile "But it was nice to be able to talk about chiefing Berk. I'm actually looking forward to running the village." Laughing, he added "Never thought I'd say that! Hopefully no more events with Savage will happen."

"Hiccup," Matt said with a wide smile "Astrid left hours ago. I'm sure she and Eret are coming right now!" Pointing to the Skrills on top of the canyon, he said "Besides, what'll Savage do to get past these guys?"

No sooner had he said that, a massive boulder flew through the lightning storm and crashed into the canyon wall; causing rocks to tumble down into the canyon.

Jumping up at the sight, Hiccup turned to see two more boulders fly through the lightning and into the canyon. Multiple Skrills took flight and charged through the lightning, roaring in anger that they were being attacked. One of them was the massive green Skrill and was leading the others.

"You know, I'm going to learn to keep my freakin' mouth shut sometimes…" Matt said, dodging a rock that was rolling down the canyon wall and towards him. "Wasatch! Let's go!" he shouted, running to his dragon and locking his brace.

"Alright boy, let's show them what a rested Night Fury can do!" Hiccup said loudly, running towards the lightning wall with Toothless right behind him. "Matt, can you get the lightning to stop?"

"I'll try." Matt said, strapping himself into his bindings. It was a long time since he rode like that on Wasatch. Now able to have the strength and stamina to 'board' on Wasatch, he couldn't help but feel a little giddy. Launching into the air, Matt guided Wasatch towards one of the Skrills. Before he got to it, another boulder smashed right below the Skrill, causing the cliff to collapse.

The Skrill acting as a guard then caught itself in the air as the ground that it was standing on collapsed.

Seeing the lightning weaken, the second Skrill on the other side of the canyon launched into the air and joined to the battle. Watching the lightning dissipate, Matt saw three columns of men; separated into groups of at least 20 or 30 each. Each group had a catapult that was launching boulders as fast as they could be loaded.

"Matt! Come pick me up!" Hiccup shouted, waving his arms to catch his attention.

Not questioning why, Matt dove down and stopped in front of Hiccup. "What's up? What do you need me to do?"

"We're taking down Savage." Hiccup replied "I'm leaving Toothless to make sure that the slavers don't get into the nest."

"I'll stay and defend too!" Heather cut in, running up to Matt and Hiccup. "Valkyrie and I can help Toothless if he gets overrun."

"Good. Do that." Hiccup said. Turning back to Matt, he added "I hope you're ready. The two of us are going to take down Savage together."

"Why the sudden change in plans?" Matt asked, letting Hiccup climb onto Wasatch's back "You wanted to avoid confrontation."

"Well, we can't avoid it" Hiccup replied simply "And we have an advantage over them. We have a nest of Skrills fighting with us!" Looking at Toothless, he ordered "Take down the catapults first! That'll stop them from destroying the Skrills nest!"

Toothless roared and fired a plasma blast at the group far right. Seeing the group scatter as the fireball smashed into the catapult caused Toothless to roar loudly, as if to challenge the slavers.

Heather looked at Matt and said "Be careful Matt…I don't want to come rescue you again."

Smiling, he just leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, saying "Hey, I still need to talk to you later, so I'll make sure I'm careful." Looking at Heather, he then launched into the air with Hiccup holding onto one of the metal spikes. Leveling out in the air, Matt saw multiple Skrills laying on the ground with nets over them. "I guess they came prepared for us." he shouted "Let's give our Skrill friend's a quick helping hand!" Guiding Wasatch into a strafing run, he let Wasatch shoot a massive lightning bolt into a small group of slavers that were running towards a downed Skrill. Hitting two of them, Wasatch then grabbed the net that lay on one of the downed Skrill.

Hiccup turned to see the Skrill quickly radiate with lighting and finish off the rest of the slavers that were close to it. Turning to see the rest of the invading army, he saw another one of Toothless' blasts; tearing apart the middle group's catapult. "Matt! They're all retreating! Look!" He shouted, pointing at the last column that was intact.

Sure enough, Matt watched the last group of slavers begin to retreat by running back the way they came. "I guess they weren't really planning on stirring up a whole nest of Skrills!" he shouted in excitement. Looking at the battle, he then asked "Did you see Savage at all?"

"Over there!" Hiccup said, pointing to three men sprinting away from the battle.

"There's Buyer!" Matt said, pointing to four men who were running in a different direction "I can't let him get away!"

"Go. I'll get Savage." Hiccup said, starting to stand up from where he was sitting.

"I can drop you off first," Matt said, staring at Hiccup in worry "at least let me land!"

"No need! Go get Buyer!" Hiccup shouted, leaping off of Wasatch.

Both Matt and Wasatch stared in amazement as Hiccup opened his flight suit and began to glide to Savage just as fast as if he was riding a dragon. Laughing, Matt shouted to Wasatch "I guess he doesn't need us after all!" Looking over to Buyer, Matt then urged Wasatch into a dive by dropping his lead foot. "Ok buddy, let's go see our old friend shall we?"

Rapidly falling, Matt pulled up and skimmed across the ground. Flying above Buyer and his men, Matt let Wasatch suddenly stall and turn around, creating a small whirlwind that caught Buyer and his men off guard. Unstrapping himself, Matt leapt down on the ground; drawing his sword in the process. Wasatch then hovered above him, radiating with lightning all around his body and roaring loudly at Buyer.

"Son of Odin…" the stranger gasped, staring at Wasatch "You really do ride dragons!"

"Oh shut up!" Matt yelled, letting sparks shoot along his blade. Pointing at the stranger and his men, he shouted "Drop your weapons now! All of you!"

"And if we don't?" the stranger asked, a small smile breaking across his face.

"Wasatch. Please make them all drop their weapons." Matt said, glaring at Buyer.

Wasatch immediately let loose small lightning bolts, making the ground around Buyer and his men look like small explosives were going off next to them. It didn't take long for the stranger's men to drop their swords, but they kept their shields. Only the buyer remained with sword in hand.

"That's what'll happen if you don't drop them!" Matt shouted, taking a step closer to the stranger.

"Rush 'em boys!" the stranger yelled, charging Matt. His three men drew daggers and charged Matt with their shields raised.

Wasatch let loose a massive lightning bolt, completely laying out one of the men. Matt jumped backwards to avoid a swipe from the stranger. Instantly, Matt brought his sword across his foe's blade; arcing electricity into him. The stranger recoiled back from the shock and shouted "Arrgghhh! What was that!?" Matt ignored the cry of pain and was about to do a follow up strike, but was cut off by one of the men. Side stepping the dagger that was thrust out at him, Matt backpedaled away as the second guard sliced the air in front of Matt with his shield.

"Ooff…" Matt grunted, landing a little funny on his leg. Ignoring the pain, Matt readied himself to counter a second swipe with the shield, only to see him get blown away by another lightning bolt. Wasatch roared as he landed next to Matt and then swung his tail around and knocked the other guard to the ground. "Thanks boy…" Matt whispered, resting his hand on the Skrill's wing. Looking at the stranger, who was fuming at Matt, he then said "This one's mine Wasatch. Just watch my back." Wasatch growled, eyeing the stranger angrily. Matt stared at Buyer and then sprinted towards him with his sword raised and sparks flying.

* * *

><p>"Hold it right there Savage!" Hiccup shouted, landing roughly on the ground. Rolling to a stop, Hiccup quickly folded his flight suit in record time. Drawing his fire sword, he pointed it at Savage and continued saying "You're coming with us…"<p>

Hearing what Hiccup was saying, Savage began to laugh and replied "I don't think so Hiccup…I think you miscalculated how many men are with me." Pointing behind where Hiccup was standing, he said "See?"

Turning around slowly, just to make sure that Savage wouldn't rush him, Hiccup saw another group of men. Well, by group, it was really a small army! "No…" Hiccup whispered, staring in disbelief.

"Hiccup look out!" Heather's voice sounded.

Whirling back around, Hiccup turned just in time to see the two men that were with Savage reach to grab him. Trying to back pedal away, he then watched them disappear in front of his eyes. Turning his head to see where they went, he saw that Valkyrie carry the two men and then drop them from quite the height.

"I saw that you needed a little back up." Heather said, letting Valkyrie land next to Hiccup. Jumping off, she continued to say "Glad I came when I did."

Smiling, Hiccup then turned to Savage and said "I don't really care what's behind me Savage. You're going to be coming with us if you like it or not!"

"Try to take me. My men will just cut you down! I'll make sur-" Savage began to shout, but was interrupted as Toothless then rammed into his back and laid him out flat. Putting one of his feet on Savage, Toothless pinned the struggling Viking on the ground and growled viciously at him.

Kneeling in front of Savage, Hiccup smiled and said "Well, looks like you wanted to come with us after all!"

"Hiccup, that army is coming! I bet they have at least a hundred men!" Heather said, staring at the army that was starting to march towards them.

Hiccup was about to say something, but was interrupted when the massive Skrill flew above him. Hovering in front of the army, it roared loudly as it began to radiate with lightning. Other Skrills also hovered behind the big one, except shooting lightning at their leader.

"What are they doing?" Hiccup asked softly, staring in awe at the sight "It's like they're…"

"Charging him!" Heather finished excitedly. Looking at Valkyrie, she quickly said "Well, help them out! Do what you need to!"

Valkyrie immediately responded by flying into the air, lining herself up with the other Skrills and shooting a lightning bolt at the massive Skrill. Radiating with a bright light now, the Skrill unleashed the massive surge at the army; causing them to scatter almost immediately as lighting struck randomly into the crowd. The massive Skrill then continued to hover as the smaller Skrills then began to chase the scattered army, adding to the pandemonium.

"I guess you forgot that we have an army of Skrills." Hiccup said smiling a lot broader "I believe your men won't be cutting us down anytime soon." Ignoring Savages' angry shouts, Hiccup turned to Heather and said "Go find Matt. I'll take care of Savage."

"I'll be right back then." Heather said anxiously, realizing that Matt was gone fighting elsewhere. Knowing that Valkyrie was busy helping the Skrills, she began to run up a small incline. Reaching the peak of the hill, she saw at the bottom of it Matt and the stranger exchanging sword strikes. Wasatch was busy making sure that the one guy he hit with his tail wasn't to try and cheap shot Matt. "Matt!" She shouted, running down the hill to try and help him.

Matt didn't even hear her; being busy focusing on countering the stranger's strikes. Even though it was hurting him, the electricity wasn't really slowing the stranger every time they made contact. Blocking another strike, Matt immediately followed up with a thrust forward. The stranger easily dodged the thrust and swung his fist around, landing a blow to Matt's face.

Staggering, Matt felt himself rammed by the stranger. Landing hard in the dirt, he looked up to see the stranger with his sword lowered and not even standing in a defensive position. Not wasting a second to think about it, Matt lifted his sword and sent a jolt of electricity down the leg of the stranger. Seeing him collapse on one knee, Matt rolled himself back onto his feet and laid the flat side of his blade to shock Buyer again. This time collapsing onto his hands, the stranger gasped "No more! I don't know how you're shocking me, but stop!"

Breathing heavily, Matt relaxed for a second. Using his sword, Matt lifted the stranger's head by the chin and asked "Now will you tell me your name; while you still can?"

"Bruvos. King Bruvos." He answered, lifting his chin away from the blade. Letting himself fall to one side, he continued to explain "My kingdom is at least a two week sailing trip from this island."

"Well Bruvos, I'm afraid you're not going to be seeing it for a long time." Matt whispered "At least until we decide what to do with you."

"Matt!" Heather said, gasping for breath as she finally ran up to him "Are you alright?'

"I'm fine. At least now I am." Matt said lowering his sword and looking at her "It's over."

"Yes it is." A voice shouted above them.

Turning to see who said that, Matt and Heather saw Astrid land Stormfly on top of the one guard that Wasatch was keeping away from Matt. Leaping down, Astrid ran to them and said "I found Eret not even an hour away from the island! So, here we are!" Lifting her cut arm, she showed that it was cleaned and wrapped in fresh bandages. "Now you guys can't give me grief about my arm!"

"I guess we can't!" Matt said smiling.

Soon, Eret and Skull Crusher came into view, as did the twins and Snotlout. All riding their dragons.

"You all train dragons…" Bruvos said in astonishment "That's amazing!"

"Who's this guy?" Snotlout asked, walking up to him.

"Bruvos. Or King Bruvos." Matt said looking down at their new prisoner "Don't know what to do with him yet."

"Where's Hiccup?" Astrid asked, looking around.

"Back behind the hill with Savage. Their army is gone and all we have are these two." Heather quickly replied "Toothless is helping him."

"They had an army attack the nest!?" Astrid asked in bewilderment.

Nodding, Matt then corrected "Not really an army, but a lot of men. I bet he used every single slaver he had to try and get us."

"I'll be right back then, I'm going to get him." Astrid said, starting to run up the hill.

"I'll come too, to show you the way!" Heather said, starting to follow her.

Almost instantly, Bruvos reached out and grabbed Heather's leg; tripping her onto the ground. Before anyone could react, he pulled out a dagger and held it at her throat. "Well, this took an interesting turn didn't it?"

"Let her go Bruvos!" Matt shouted, extending his sword out.

"Not until you hear me out first." Bruvos said, staring back at Matt "I never wanted to hurt you or your friends."

"Really?" Matt said laughing out of frustration and anger "Forgive me if I find that hard to believe."

"I mean it Matt. Why do you think I didn't finish you when I threw you on the ground. I just stood there and watched you." Bruvos said intently. Drawing the dagger away from Heather, he quickly sheathed it. Standing up, he pulled Heather onto her feet. Then, looking at Matt, gently pushed her away from him. "See? The only reason I helped Dagur was to get you back. I specifically told him not to kill you or your friends. I was going to buy all of you and then release you."

Confused at what Bruvos was doing, Matt reached and pulled Heather towards him. Not sure of what to do, he then asked "Why do you want me then."

"For selfish reasons actually." He replied, holding his hands in the air as if Matt was going to shoot him "I thought you could help my kingdom and my subjects."

"Pass." Matt vented shortly. He couldn't tell if Bruvos was telling the truth or just trying to save his own skin.

"I figured as much." Bruvos said sadly "However, I do have to ask if you'll let me and my man go? I'll sail away from here as fast as you want me too."

Matt just stared at him, unsure of what to do. Before he could say anything, he heard Hiccup's voice in the back say "Are you telling the truth? Or are you going to double cross us and attack us again."

"I've always been truthful in all my dealings." Bruvos said, looking at Hiccup who was walking through the group. Toothless was escorting Savage, making sure he wasn't going to run away or try something sneaky.

"Then get out of here. Don't take any Slavers with you or else we will pursue you until we sink your ship." Hiccup said darkly, his eyes narrowing "Count yourself lucky Bruvos. If Matt hadn't told me that you stopped Savage from beating him any more than he has, I wouldn't have let you go."

"Thank you…" Bruvos began to say "Er…I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I don't know your name."

"Hiccup. Chief of Berk" Hiccup replied flatly, cutting off all chances to have a conversation. Pointing in the direction that they were coming from, he then reaffirmed "Now get out of here. Take your friend with you too."

"Of course. Again, thank you Chief Hiccup." Bruvos said, bowing towards Hiccup.

Astrid then made Stormfly get off of the one surviving guard, letting him walk tenderly with Bruvos. After walking a few yards, Bruvos turned around and faced Matt. Smiling, he said "Maybe one day I'll be able to convince you to come visit my kingdom. Any chance of that?"

"No. I don't think I'll ever come by." Matt replied, staring at Bruvos intently.

"We'll see." Bruvos said shrugging, turning around to resume walking back to where the slaver camp was "Never is a long time."

"I wonder what he meant by that?" Heather whispered, looking at Matt "Do you think that he'll try something sneaky?"

"No." Matt said, watching Bruvos help his friend walk "I don't really know what to think about that."

"Well don't." Eret said, kicking the back of Matt's and Heather's knees. Catching them so they wouldn't fall all the way down, he gently laid them on the ground. "You're resting until my men get here. They're going to carry you back to the ship." Turning to Hiccup and Astrid, he continued "That goes for you two as well. Sit down and get something to eat and drink."

Almost immediately, fresh water and food was placed in front of the four as they were forced to stay put. Their dragons then laid next to them, trying to steal the food from their riders.

Laughing, Matt tossed a piece of bread to Wasatch and said "I guess we don't really have a choice do we?"

"No I guess we don't" Hiccup said smiling. Turning to Eret, he asked "Can you take care of Savage and his men for me then?"

"Don't worry Hiccup, I'll keep them corralled until my men come. Snotlout and the Twins can help me as well. For now, just rest. I know you and everyone else are exhausted." Eret said, walking up to Savage and pushing him towards the direction he wanted him to go. "All these guys will be in my brig before you even get to my ship." With that, he, Skull Crusher, the Twins, and Snotlout began to follow Savage to where his men were still recovering from the battle.

"Thank you." Hiccup whispered, finally letting his muscles relax. Looking at Astrid, Heather, and Matt, he then said "It's finally over."

"And not a moment too soon." Matt replied, grabbing a handful of dried meat "I want to get back to Berk right away."

"Why?" Heather asked, looking at him curiously "I mean I understand of wanting to go home, but there's more to it than that I'm guessing."

"Well, if you should know" Matt began to say "Remember that project I was working on? You know, the thing that consumed me for a while?"

"Of course. I didn't see you for two day!" Astrid said, reaching for a water container "Are you going to tell us what it is?"

"I am." Matt said smiling, making sure he had everyone's attention "I'm making a snowboard."

"Really!?" Heather said ecstatically "That's great Matt!"

"I knew you couldn't stay away from it for long." Hiccup said shaking his head with a smile "I knew you'd be doing something like that sooner or later."

"Yeah, it's all going good, but I can't figure out the bindings." Matt continued, furrowing his eyes. "I don't want to take the ones I have on Wasatch's saddle, but I can't really make anything to hold me down."

"I bet if I take a look at it, I can figure something out." Hiccup said with a smile "Besides, maybe I'll learn a little more about your gear if I'm trying to copy it."

"Thanks Hiccup, but I think I'll be needing two pairs of bindings." Matt said, turning to Heather "You told me a while ago you wanted to try my snowboard. Well, I wasn't making just one snowboard, I was making two. So that you can try it if you want."

"Did you really!?" Heather gasped. Smiling, she then added "If you're willing to watch me fall over and over, I'll take you up on teaching me."

"So, will it be like your old one?" Astrid quickly asked "I mean the snowboard. Will it be the same?"

"Not really no." Matt replied, looking at Astrid "It's going to be made of wood, not a polymer hybrid. The edges will have metal edges trimmed to it like my old one, but it'll be a hundred times stiffer." Looking at Hiccup, he then said "but enough of that. We have a whole sailing trip to talk about what we can do. Right now, let's just soak up the fact that we're all here together and going home."

"I agree." Astrid said, reaching for some bread with her good hand "Let's just enjoy the moment right here and now."

Smiling, Hiccup then replied "Agreed. Until Eret's men arrive, let's just take it easy

"I have to ask this before we begin to 'stop caring'" Heather said, looking around. "Where did the Skrills go?"

Almost immediately, the group began to look around, trying to see if there were any evidences of the Skrills. Not even the lightning was striking.

"I…I don't really know." Hiccup said, looking around "You'd think they'd have gone back to their nest."

"Wait…where's Valkyrie?" Matt asked, looking at Heather with worry.

"She…she went with them I guess." Heather said, letting her head drop a little.

After a few awkward moments, she finally looked up with tears in her eyes and with a small smile. "And you know what. That's ok. If she'll be happier with her family, then so be it." Looking at Matt, she joked "I guess you still get your moonlight rides with me on Wasatch."

Sitting closer to her, Matt held her in his arms. Not sure of what to say, he just sat there with her as she leaned against his shoulder and began to drift into sleep. "By the way…was that what you wanted to tell me? About the snowboard?" she whispered with her eyes still closed

Chuckling, Matt shook his head and replied "No. I'm saving that for when we're actually going home. Don't worry, I'll let you know when I'm going to tell you. Or actually ask you."

"You better…" she said, her voice drifting off when she finally fell asleep.

Looking down at her, Matt smiled and for once, didn't care of where he was or what was going on. They were all going home.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

A whole day later, after Eret and his crew locked all of the surviving slavers in his ship's cages; Hiccup, Astrid, Matt, and Heather were more than ready to go home. As the ship began to sail away from what they were now calling it 'Skrill Island', Heather just stood and watched the island slowly disappear. Wasatch himself was also staring at the island, not moving or anything.

Watching Heather, Matt couldn't help but feel concerned for her. Dressed in a black wool shirt, Matt had a few bandages showing on his arms from the bruises he had. Sighing, he limped next to Heather and asked "Hey, you ok? You haven't said much since we got on the ship."

"I'm fine." Heather replied quickly "Just…just thinking of what happened to us during the last week. I hope we're done with the drama and adventures."

Nodding, Matt grabbed and pulled her closer to him. Squeezing her with his one arm, he then said "It's not just that you're thinking of. You're worried about Valkyrie aren't you? Or at least thinking about her."

Looking down into the ocean, Heather quietly said "I thought we were friends. I thought that she'd stay with me." Looking back up at the island, she then added "I guess I shouldn't have told her to go and do what she needed to. Maybe she took that as a sign that we were done."

Matt just looked at Heather. He had no words to even try to help comfort her. Shaking his head, he turned to see Wasatch still facing the island. Thinking of what Heather said, he sighed heavily and let go of Heather. Slightly limping up to his dragon, he rested his hand on Wasatch's saddle and softly said "Well…I know this is your home bud. It'd be unfair of me to not let you choose to be with me…or to stay here." With that, he began to unstrap the bindings. About to pull off one of the straps, Matt was suddenly sent sprawling on the deck; which had gained the attention of more than a few people. Regaining his senses, he looked up to see Wasatch growling at him; and biting at him.

Unsure of how to take it, Matt rolled himself back up and again walked towards the saddle. Reaching for the strap he was trying to pull off, he barely moved his hand away as Wasatch snapped at the air. Growling, Wasatch then shocked Matt; with enough power that it dropped him on one knee. Now roaring, Wasatch started to radiate with lighting, as if daring Matt to come closer.

"Alright! Alright!" Matt said weakly, struggling to stand back up. Heather at this point ran to help him up. "I guess that is your choice then." Matt whispered, this time reaching for Wasatch's wing.

Wasatch stopped the lighting and lowered himself next to Matt. Letting Matt pet him, Wasatch rubbed against Matt, sending a lot smaller jolt into his trainer.

"Thanks Wasatch…means the world to me." Matt said, holding back a tear that was forming in his eye.

"I'm happy for you Matt." Heather said, resting her hand on his shoulder "I'm glad you and Wasatch are inseparable…"

"Heather, please!" Matt said, looking into her eyes "I didn't mean to make it look like I was rubbing it in. I just wanted to give Wasatch the chan-"

Heather cut him off by placing her hand on his lips. "I know what you were doing. And I'm not upset. Valkyrie and I just didn't have the time to build a bond with each other. Well, a bond like yours and Wasatch's."

"Heather. We'll find you a dragon. One that will be like Snatch and Valkyrie. I promise." Matt said, hugging Heather.

"One thing at a time Matt. You've got to teach me how to snowboard first." Heather teased, returning a hug of her own.

"Deal." Matt said, smiling as he looked down at her.

"Well, that was eventful to watch." Astrid's voice cut in, making the two turn their heads towards her "Good to see that Wasatch wants to stay with you Matt."

Seeing Astrid walk towards them with her arm in a new sling, Matt then said "And it's good to see your arm is back together again."

"Yeah, should only take a month to heal completely." Astrid said smiling "With Heather's attention of course. Only then will it heal quickly."

"We'll see. I might make you rest for two months." Heather said with a smile "Since I really don't want to stitch your arm back together again."

"I'll just ignore you." Astrid teased back "Matt will help me do what I need too, right?"

"Of course! I've got to pay you back for all the times you've helped me disobey the doctor's orders." Matt said, smiling at Heather "Besides, what's the worst that could happen to your arm?"

Heather glared at Matt, pretending to be angry. Finally unable to keep a stern face, she laughed and said "You two are going to be the death of me. Fighting against everything I suggest."

"Not everything." Astrid quickly corrected "Just the things we disagree with."

"Ah, of course." Heather smirked back "So almost everything."

"Yeah, that's about right." Matt said nodding with a goofy grin on his face.

Laughing, the three noticed Hiccup walk up to them, also smiling from ear to ear.

"What's got you so happy; other than finally going home?" Astrid asked, lightly punching him in the stomach.

"Well, two things actually." Hiccup said, grimacing from the punch. Walking over to Heather, he continued "First, Snotlout's away from me and on a patrol. He hasn't stopped talking about what he would have done if he was chief."

"He does…get a little carried away." Astrid said with a smile "We all know that."

"Second, is because of Heather." Hiccup continued, squaring up to Heather.

"Wait. Why?" She asked in confusion "What did I do?"

Laughing, Hiccup grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. "Because you're still a dragon trainer of a Skrill." He said gesturing to a dragon flying towards the ship.

Heather gasped as the purple and white Skrill landed on the ship, causing some of Eret's men to quickly jump out of the way. Walking towards Heather, Valkyrie bumped her in the chest and shocked her lightly. Heather grabbed the Skrill's head and hugged it, crying out of joy and surprise.

"And here I thought you were going to leave me. I'm the faithless one." She said, burying her face into Valkyries "Thank you for coming back…Thank you…"

"I knew that she'd never leave you like that." Matt said with a smile "I guess we'll still have to share dragons on our moonlight rides."

"I guess if that's the worse problem we come up with, then I'm alright with that." Heather said, sobbing still. Looking up at Matt, she then said "I guess you'll have to teach me all that you know about training Skrills now."

Teasing, Matt jokingly said "Not until I teach you how to snowboard. One thing at a time remember?"

"Matt!" Heather said in frustration, knowing that she was being teased with her own joke. "You're impossible sometimes you know!"

"I know. But you can handle it." Matt said, looking down at her "That's why I keep on doing it."

"Hey Hiccup!" Ruffnut shouted walking up to him "Why don't we fly to Berk? Won't that be faster than sailing?"

"Yeah, it's been awhile since we've had a dragon race. I want to kick all of your guy's butts!" Tuffnut followed up with. Cracking his knuckles, he said "The warrior within is ready."

"Well, as much as I'd like to get home as well, we can't leave Eret with all the prisoners." Hiccup said smiling as he turned to the Twins "and besides, I figured it'd be nice to relax for a little bit before we went back to the daily grind."

"That being said" Matt cut in "Now that you have Valkyrie, you'll be able to race with us!"

"Well, I guess I'm going to need to practice before then." Heather said, looking at Valkyrie "And to make sure that Valkyrie doesn't eat the sheep."

Matt smiled as he watched Heather rub Valkyrie's head. Looking at Hiccup, he whispered "I think now's a good time Hiccup."

A small smile grew on Hiccup's face as he returned a nod. Pulling Astrid close to him, he motioned to Matt to start.

Taking a deep breath, Matt walked up to Heather and pulled her close to him. "You know Heather, this little adventure gave me a lot of time to think. Especially when I was captured by myself." Feeling something bump into his back, he turned to see Wasatch glaring at him. "Well…When Wasatch and I were captured."

"Oh? Isn't that dangerous to think when you're alone?" Heather teased, lightly hitting Matt in the stomach. Groaning at the hit, Matt just laughed and hugged her tighter. Heather then got a suspicious look. Matt was a little more giddy than usual. Out of nervousness? Or maybe just relishing the fact that they were going home alive.

"A lot of times, I've always wanted to try something new; but never did because I was scared. Not really scared, but never felt ready to do it." Matt quickly said. He couldn't help but stutter a little bit, causing Heather to look at him with even more curiosity. Taking another deep breath, he added "Well, today I'm going to do something I've been thinking of doing for a while. I don't know if I'm ready for this, but frankly, after what we went through this week, I don't care."

"Matt…why are you telling me this? What are you going to do?" Heather asked "Do you need help? My help?"

"No Heather, this is going to have to be all me and only." Matt said, now visibly shaken and obviously nervous for something. "I don't know how you Vikings do this, so I'll do it the way I know how to. I don't even have a ring, but to hell with it."

"Do what!?" Heather asked, even more confused than ever "What's going on Matt?"

Dropping to one knee, Matt asked "Will you marry me Heather?"

Heather gasped as she covered her mouth in surprise. Tears were immediately pouring out of her eyes.

"I know this is the last thing you expected, but after this week; I can't imagine what life is like without you." Matt said, staring into Heather's eyes. Tears were starting to form in his eyes as well "I promise that I will do everything to make your life comfortable, and more importantly, safe. So please Heather. Will you marry me? Can I be your husband?"

Closing her eyes to try and stop the tears from pouring. Nodding vigorously, she whispered weakly "Of course Matt! Yes!"

The ship then exploded into a cheer as Matt rushed Heather and picked her off her feet. Kissing her, he then said "That was the longest second in my life. Thank you Heather! Thank you! I promise I'll get you a ring as soon as we get back!"

"Thank you Matt! But I don't need a ring." Heather said laughing and crying at the same time "I just need you!"

Hiccup suddenly went into a flashback when he watched his dad and mom singing and dancing together. It almost seemed to be the exact same thing. Looking at Astrid who was whistling out of excitement, he couldn't help but do the same thing. Caught up in the moment? Probably, but it seemed right and fitting for the moment. Even though it wasn't Viking tradition, he liked what Matt did. Dropping to one knee and grabbing Astrid's hand, he asked. "Astrid. It feels like the God's are doing this to me, but will you marry me as well?"

Astrid stared at Hiccup in shock, completely blown away by Hiccup. Almost everyone on the ship went silent when they realized what was going on. Even Matt and Heather were wide eyed at what Hiccup was doing.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Astrid closed her eyes to try and stop a tear roll down her cheek. Softly nodding, she quietly whispered "…Yes…I do Hiccup!"

The ship once again exploded with another cheer, except a lot more loudly since it was the chief and his love FINALLY tying the knot.

Gently hugging Astrid, trying not to bump her bandaged arm, Hiccup whispered "Thank you Astrid. I've always loved you. Thank you for…everything."

"Hiccup. I love you too. Remember that forever!" Astrid whispered back, resting her forehead against his. Slowly, they both leaned forward and kissed each other. Holding it for a few seconds, the world almost seemed quiet, as if they were alone. The only thing that brought them back to the world was when the dragons simultaneously shot fire and lighting into the air; know that this was a time of celebration.

Finally looking at Matt and Heather, Hiccup said "Look at what you made me do! I'm engaged now!"

"About time!" Matt said laughing, still holding Heather "How long have you known Astrid? 7, 8 years maybe?"

"My whole life basically." Hiccup said, smiling at Astrid.

"Well, I've only know Heather for 6 months!" Matt said, laughing "It was only a matter of time for you!"

"He likes to take his time with things." Astrid said, defending him "One of the reasons why I love him."

"Congrats Hiccup." Matt said, smiling widely. Finally walking away from Heather, Matt stepped up to Hiccup with his hand extended towards him.

Not taking the hand, Hiccup just walked up to Matt and brought him into a tight hug. "You too Matt…Congratulations!" Stepping back from Matt, he laughed and said "I guess you're staying here for good now aren't you?"

Grabbing Heather with one arm, Matt just said "I made that decision 6 months ago. This is the nail in the coffin. I'm never EVER going back. I have everything I need and then some."

"Plus a snowboard." Heather teased, smiling up at Matt "Can't forget that!"

"No I guess we can't." Matt said smiling. Looking at his friends, he knew that this was going to be the start of his best days to come.

* * *

><p>After an hour passed by, as well as the excitement, Matt and Heather were sitting at the bow of the ship.<p>

"So…Astrid wants to have the wedding feast at the cove. You know. Where Hiccup found Toothless." Heather said, staring off into the ocean.

"Is that what you want?" Matt asked "We don't have to have the wedding on the same day if you want it to be your day."

"Our day." Heather corrected, leaning against Matt "The cove sounds like a good idea. And I think it'd be great if you and Hiccup had your weddings on the same day."

"If you're happy with it, then I'm happy with it." Matt said, leaning against the railing of Eret's ship. "I can't believe that I'm actually getting married."

"Neither can I…" Heather said softly. Looking up at Matt, she then said "I'm just glad I'm getting married to you."

"Same here." Matt said with a wide smile "Same here…"

"Matt!" Hiccup's voice sounded behind him. He sounded panicked almost. Turning around, he saw Hiccup running to him in a small frenzy.

"What's going on Hiccup?" Matt asked, standing up. Heather also stood up, concerned with Hiccup's tone.

"A ships coming at us." Hiccup quickly replied "And fast!"

"Want us to blow it out of the water?" Matt asked, activating his brace in anticipation.

"It has red sails." Hiccup said "It's Bruvos."

"Wait…why!?" Heather asked in shock "Why's he coming here?"

"I don't know. But Snotlout should have spotted him before we did." Hiccup said angrily. Turning to Matt, he then asked "Mind getting ready just in case he means to fight us? I'm sure he has other motives other than talking to us."

"I'm already ready." Matt said following Hiccup. Walking onto the main deck, Matt saw the red sails, making progress towards them.

"He's not wasting any time is he?" Astrid observed seeing the ship edge closer.

"Eret's letting up on the sails as well." Hiccup said, explaining why Bruvos was catching up "I want to see what he wants."

"Well, they have a white flag." Matt said, pointing to the white object waving frantically "I still don't like it."

"I don't think any of us do." Hiccup said grimly watching the red sails get closer and closer.

After a few long minutes, Hiccup and Matt could see Bruvos standing near the railing with a big smile on his face. Matt couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Greetings Hiccup!" Bruvos shouted, waving towards Hiccup.

"What do you want Bruvos. I thought I told you that I didn't want near us anymore." Hiccup shouted, not showing any emotion towards Bruvos.

"Ah, well, I thought you'd like your friend back." Bruvos said smiling even wider. Motioning behind him, he had Snotlout walk up next to him. "I found him in the water with his dragon. Thought I'd help out by giving him a lift."

Shocked to see Snotlout on their ship, Hiccup quickly followed up with "What do you want for him Bruvos?"

"Nothing." Bruvos said through his smile "If you land a plank across to our ship we'll let him walk on by!"

"Where's his dragon?" Astrid then asked loudly, not seeing Hookfang anywhere.

"Ah well, you see." Bruvos said, his face darkening a little "I am going to keep the dragon. Purely for selfish reasons, but mainly as payment for my good deed."

"I knew you wanted something!" Hiccup shouted, leaning over the railing to show that he was angry.

"Yes, I know. I am selfish." Bruvos said in a careless voice "Regardless, I am willing to trade passengers. Well, for a specific passenger that you took from me."

Hearing this, Hiccup then said to Eret "Get Savage up here."

"No. Not Savage." Bruvos corrected. Looking at Matt, he said "Matt is the only one I'll trade the dragon for."

Hiccup looked at Matt in horror, who looked like he just watched someone get hit by a snowplow.

Heather stared at Matt with wide eyes, not wanting to believe what she was hearing.

Finally recovering, Matt just nodded and grabbed his sword handle. Handing it to Heather, he quietly said "Keep it safe for me. Just while I'm gone."

"Matt…" Heather said, tears forming up in her eyes.

"There has to be something else you want!" Hiccup shouted out of anger and despair "Gold!? Gems? Anything!?"

"No. Only Matt." Bruvos said adamantly.

"You said you were honest in all your dealings!" Eret shouted, stepping next to Hiccup "What happened!?"

"I am honest!" Bruvos defended "This is just a new deal!" Then, his face scowling, added "This offer has a time limit. Make your decision. I promise that once Matt gets on board, I'll let him cut the dragon free to fly back to your ship!"

"We will come after you!" Hiccup shouted angrily, realizing that he was losing the argument.

"After a month at least." Bruvos stated "If we see any of you 'Berks' near my kingdom, he'll be dead before he can blink. That is a promise."

Hiccup looked at Matt, who was hugging Heather and trying to calm her down. Making eye contact with him, Matt just nodded to assure him that he's ok with it.

Looking back at Bruvos, Hiccup glared at him and said "It's a deal…Matt for the Monstrous Nightmare. We'll wait exactly one month and then you can count on a reckoning. You do not want to go to war with us."

"I'm sure…" Bruvos said unfazed by the threat "I'll let him say good-bye to everyone he wants to. For now, you might want to drop a board over to our ship. I'm sure this young man would like to get aboard."

Eret's men were already placing a board across to Bruvos' ship. Hiccup just looked away from Bruvos, trying to contain the anger that was building up in him. Just an hour ago, the world seemed to be perfect. Now, it was shattered. Looking up at Matt, who was still trying to comfort Heather, he couldn't help but whisper to himself "I'm sorry Matt…I failed you by letting that scumbag live…"

"But…what about us!?" Heather whimpered, sobbing uncontrollably.

"We'll just post-pone it for a little while." Matt said, forcing a fake smile

"Oh Matt..." Heather said, gasping for breath "Why is it always you…"

"Just comes with lifestyle I chose." Matt said jokingly, trying hard to lighten the mood "Maybe I'll be able to get you a ring while I'm gone."

Heather just squeezed Matt hearing this, now sobbing uncontrollably. Reluctantly, he began to pull away from Heather. Grasping her hand, he stared into her tear stained eyes. Feeling the tears swell up in his, he softly let go of her and began to walk towards the plank. Heather collapsed on her knees, crying like a child, as he walked away.

Snotlout was already onboard, ashamed to even look up and Matt. Feeling a hand grip his shoulder, he looked up into Matt's smiling and crying face.

"Don't think for one second that I blame you." Matt said, squeezing Snotlout's shoulder "Thank you for helping Hiccup.

Not saying anything, Snotlout just nodded, trying to cover up the tears that were building up in his eyes.

"Matt…We'll be coming for you." Astrid said, grabbing him in a hug "And we'll make sure Bruvos pays for this."

"Thanks Astrid. Take care of Heather for me. She's…going to need some help" Matt said, glancing back at Heather.

"Don't worry about her. Or Wasatch." Astrid said "Just focus on staying alive."

"Don't worry, not much else I can think of." Matt said with a small smile. Returning a hug, he turned to see Hiccup trying to cover the tears in his eyes.

"I failed you Matt…I should have never let him go…" Hiccup said softly, not looking into Hiccup's eyes.

"Hey…" Matt said, grabbing Hiccup and shaking him gently "Listen to a brother. Crap happens. Get back up, shake off the snow, and board on. I would have made the same decision if I was in your boots. Forget it, and start thinking of ways to get me back. That's what I'll be counting on you doing. I'll be waiting.

"I'll get you back even if you're in Valhalla." Hiccup said angrily "That I promise."

"I know you will." Matt said, again with a small smile. Grasping him in a hug, Matt finally pulled away and walked to Wasatch.

Confused with what was going on, Wasatch stared at Matt as if waiting for an explanation. Tears in his eyes, Matt quietly said "Take care of Heather for me. Help Toothless when he needs it. Protect Berk when you have to. Thanks for being there for me boy." With that, Matt grabbed his Skrill and hugged him.

Pulling away, he looked at his friends one last time, and then proceeded to cross the plank that was set down. Crawling ever so slowly, as to not fall into the ocean, Matt eventually made it to Bruvos' ship. He could see Hookfang tied down on the deck, pinned down by a massive net. Feeling himself grabbed and pulled off the plank. Matt stared helplessly as Eret's ship immediately began to pull away.

"Alright…into these you go." A sailor said, holding up some shackles.

"Those aren't needed." Bruvos said slowly, stopping the sailor. Grabbing a sword from one of his men, he handed it to Matt. Pointing to a rope that was strung up next to him, he said "Cut this rope, and the net comes off."

Staring at the sword, and then at Bruvos, Matt tried to quell the hatred that was burning in him. Bruvos stared back, as if daring Matt to try and kill him. Fighting against what he wanted to do, Matt quickly sliced the rope. The net was immediately pulled off of Hookfang, who instantly erupted into flames.

"Calm him down before he sinks this ship!" Bruvos shouted, backing away from the raging dragon "I'll make sure you go down with us if you don't."

Matt immediately ran to Hookfang, shouting "Hey! Hookfang! It's alright boy!"

Hookfang stared at Matt, still angry.

"That's right! Now get out of here!" Matt shouted, motioning for Hookfang to fly away.

The Nightmare did so, leaving Matt on the ship. Matt's heart sank as he watched his only possible chance to escape flew towards Eret's ship.

"Well, welcome aboard Matt!" Bruvos said loudly, placing his hand on Matt's shoulder "I can't wait to show you my kingdom!"

"Like I had much of a choice." Matt growled, shrugging off Bruvos' hand. Walking to the side of the ship, he leaned against the railing as he watched Eret's ship get smaller and smaller; until there was nothing left to see except for the wide blue ocean.

Bruvos was standing next to him, still smiling proudly after all that had happened.

"So…let's put everything on the table." Matt said, looking up to Bruvos. "Why do you want me so bad? It's not for my leg or back, that much I know."

"Yes, well, you see Matt…" Bruvos said quietly "It's for selfish reasons actually. I want you to help us train dragons!"

Matt just stared in horror at Bruvos. He should have figured out why Bruvos wanted him. To train dragons! Gaining his composure, he then asked "So…why me? You had Snotlout who trains dragons as well!"

"I wanted you and your friends know that you can't get away from me. That once I claim you as my property, I keep you!" Bruvos whispered, his voice getting lower.

"So much for not referring to me as a slave or merchandise." Matt huffed, sick at Bruvos' mentality "So…what kind of dragons do you want me to train? King." Matt said with venom in his voice.

Shaking his head, Bruvos quietly replied "You heard me wrong Matt…I don't want you to train dragons. I want you to train my people how to train dragons!"

Matt's blood froze hearing this. Not showing any emotion, Matt just stared at the ocean. After teaching Dagur how to train a Skrill, he vowed to never again teach someone that wasn't a friend or ally to Berk. Watching the waves dance up and down, he feared that he may have seen Heather for the last time.

* * *

><p><strong>So…how was that for a last chapter? Hate me right? Anyways, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or whatever you call it. I really enjoyed this story and can't wait to start on the next one. Thanks again for all the support. Special thanks to dreamin-about-dragons, and One-Crazed-Up-Dragon-Fan for their extra support and ideas! Have a great rest of 2014 and keep writing on!<strong>

**-Dustnblood**


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